Just a Little Push
by Black.Rose.Authoress
Summary: Mattea really should have expected complete chaos when she agreed to go on a two week long summer retreat with her classmates. Particularly when you add overprotective sisters and friends who like playing matchmaker... Gen!flip and Gakuen AU.
1. Chapter 1: Mattea

A/N: More gen!flipped AU Hetalia love! If you've been with us the whole time, then hope you enjoy the continuation. If you're a newbie, then gen!flipped characters will include: Prussia, Canada, America, Romano, and Veneciano. Couples will include: yuri!PruCan, het!USUK, het!Spamano, het!GerIta, and possibly more… This takes place after the events of "The French and Spanish Inquisition".

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**Just a Little Push**

**Part 1**

"Do you think it's possible to die from overexposure to unresolved sexual tension?"

Mattea had been doing a fine job of ignoring her girlfriend of two and a half months for the past two hours of this ridiculously long bus ride—apparently Gillian was not someone who did well when she was cooped up in a small space for long periods of time. However, that sort of remark was just too random to ignore.

"What?"

Gillian immediately smirked, happy that she'd finally pulled Mattea's attention away from her worn copy of _Sense and Sensibility_. "I asked if it's possible to die from UST fumes. Because we're getting overdosed right now."

"How so?" She'd probably regret asking, but Gillian had managed to pique her curiosity.

"Okay, first off…" She pointed toward the seats two rows ahead and diagonal. "Antonio and Lovina. They've been crushing on each other since she was like _five_. It took them until February to even admit that they like each other, okay? And now—they've gone right back to the way they were before! She lets him kiss her _sometimes_, but they definitely haven't made it anywhere farther than that. And then," now she pointed to the seat behind them, where Feliciana was sleeping with her head on Ludwig's shoulder, who was flipping through some sort of magazine, apparently doing his best to ignore her. "Feli and my bruder. They've liked each other for forever and neither of them realize it!" She snorted and shook her head in disappointment.

Mattea sighed. Why had she asked again? "That's not really any of our business, though."

"But I made a bet with Francis over which of them was going to get prego first!"

"WHAT?!" Whoops. She hadn't meant to be that loud. Immediately a whole host of heads turned toward her, staring at her in confusion.

She immediately sunk down into her seat and opened her book again. And this was why she'd been ignoring Gill for most of the ride.

After she'd given herself enough time to return to normal colouring and everyone else had lost interest and went back to whatever they'd been doing, she muttered quickly, "And why are you making bets like that?"

"Why not? Antonio doesn't know about it, of course. I'm kinda worried, though. If Feli and bruder don't get together soon, I definitely won't win."

"Why did you bet on them if they aren't even together?"

Gillian immediately beamed and clapped her hands once. "Because if they have a cute little baby, then I'll get to be an auntie!"

…And why was she in love with this girl again? "Don't you think that your parents would be a _little _irritated if they found out that your brother knocked up Feli?"

"Nah, I mean, they wouldn't be happy about it. But I don't think they'd be too surprised. They'd probably just make them get married, which would be even _better _because then she'd be my _sister-in-law_! Although then Lovi would be too…but then that would make Antonio my kind of brother!" She laughed. "That would be so cool!"

Mattea was just going to return to her book now.

"But I think the worst is your sister and Artie. I can feel the tension all the way from up here." She turned in her seat to stare back at the offending not-quite-couple, who were arguing over something, as usual.

"I do wish they'd get together," Mattea admitted. "I like Arthur."

"When he's not being a boring stick in the mud like my brother." She paused for a moment and then grinned as she leaned closer to the other girl. "Mattie~ I thought of something."

"If it involves explosives, I'm not interested."

Gillian pouted as he moved back slightly. "Mattie~ I'm being serious."

"And so am I. Did Ludwig check your bags before we left?"

"Ja." Now she dropped completely back into her seat and crossed her arms over her chest to further emphasize her displeasure. "Stupid bruder. He took my squirt guns."

"Good." Mattea turned a page in her book and then, after a few seconds of uncharacteristic silence, sighed and closed it again. "Fine, what's your plan?"

Gillian internally cheered and she immediately leaned back into Mattea's personal space, causing her to move back slightly. "Let's play matchmaker! We can help your sister get together with Artie and my brother get together with Feli and maybe even get Antonio and Lovina to second base!"

"Gill~" Her warning went unheeded as Gill suddenly moved even closer, her hands suddenly disappearing into the front pocket of her hoodie, red eyes glinting mischievously.

"Mm, ja, Mattie?" She leaned even closer, tilting her head to the side slightly. "I'm just looking out the window, what's wrong?"

Gillian had better not be trying anything. Mattea had laid out the rules long ago. No kissing or anything like that in any sort of situation where somebody they knew might see them. She did not want it getting back to her sister that she was dating Gillian… She'd been doing a pretty good job at keeping it a secret too. Especially impressive since Antonio and Francis knew, who were usually pretty big blabber-mouths. Although she was rather sure that the only reason they hadn't told anyone was because Gillian had threatened them with bodily harm if they did.

"Gill, there are—" And she was cut off by a quick peck against her lips.

And then Gillian was immediately back in her seat, folding her rules sheet into a paper airplane, which she then pitched at the back of her brother's head.

"Haha! Bull's-eye!"

"Gill!" Mattea hurriedly grabbed her hand, tugging it down so she couldn't make another one. "Quit it. We're almost there." She motioned out of the window to a sign that plainly read 'Harahawnee Campground'.

"Awesome!" She sat up straighter, beaming at Mattea, who blushed slightly. "Guess who's going to be in our cabin?"

"You know already?"

"Sure! I hacked onto Grandpa's computer and messed with the lists a little tiny bit. Ow!" She yelped as Mattea smacked her upside the head. "That's so not awesome! I just wanted to make sure we weren't stuck with anyone lame. Well, we are, but that's just 'cause I stuck Lovina in with us so Antonio won't have any excuse not to sneak in at night."

"You do realize that it's illegal to hack into the school's computers?"

"It wasn't like I changed any grades or anything. I just moved a few people around."

Mattea sighed. Trying to talk sense into Gillian was like trying to teach a pig to fly. "Fine, fine. Who'd you put in with us?"

"Well…" She started to list them off on her fingers. "Feli, of course. Then, Lovina—I doubt Feli would want to room somewhere without her sister anyway. You, me, and your sister."

"Why'd you put Ally in with us?" Mattea wanted to groan at that. She had to be around her sister all the time at home. The one time she could get away from her…

"Oh, and then there's someone else, but I don't know who, since Grandpa came in and I had to hide in his closet." She paused for a moment and then continued. "Which was actually really boring as closets go. I was rather disappointed. Usually people have some pretty awesome stuff in the closets in their classrooms. Feli and Lovi's Grandpa has a giant bouncy ball hidden in the back of his."

Mattea didn't want to know why Gillian was in the back of Mr. Roma's closet. She really didn't.

"Anyway, I put her in with us because then we won't have any problem getting her and Artie together!"

Mattea sighed. "You were planning this already?"

"Yep!"

Why didn't that surprise her?

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by the feel of the bus drawing to a halt. In front of the first of a long row of cabins.

Their principal, Mr. Roma, immediately stood up, flashing everyone a bright grin. "Well, here we are everyone! I hope everyone enjoys their stay at Camp Hawharnee!"

"Harahawnee," Gillian's grandfather, the school's vice-principal who was basically an older version of Ludwig in every way, corrected him without having his expression change at all.

"Camp Harahawnee." Mr. Roma didn't even miss a beat. "Now, you all have your schedules and cabin assignments. I'll see you at dinner once you're all settled. We're going to have a great time!"

Gillian immediately jumped up, grabbing Mattea's hand before she had time to protest. "Come on, Mattie. We gotta hurry up and claim our beds before someone else gets all the good ones!"

"Gill!"

Not that her protests were going to make a difference.

~.~.~

"Awesome! I get top bunk!"

Gillian had already jumped up onto the beds before Mattea had even managed to make it through the door. "You take the one right below me, 'kay?"

Mattea sighed and shook her head slightly, but then nodded, setting her bag and suitcase on the floor before lying back on the bed with a heavy sigh. Of course their cabin was the one farthest from the bus and of course Gill would want to _run _all the way there.

She could already tell that this was going to be an exhausting two weeks.

Still, she was looking forward to it. She hadn't gotten to see Gill very much since school had ended and had been really missing her. So when the letter had shown up at their house, inviting her and Ally to join their classmates on a two week retreat, she'd jumped at the offer.

"So…" and suddenly Gill was leaning over the railing of her bed to stare at Mattea upside-down. "You like it so far?"

"Yeah, it's a really pretty campground."

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Her eyes shone with excitement. "They've got paddle boats and canoes and a climbing wall. And paintball! Francis, Antonio, and I _own _at paintball."

Mattea made a mental note to not play paintball with them. Something told her it would be rather painful.

"Fuck. We are not rooming with her…"

"Ve~ but Lovi…"

"Hey, Mattie! I didn't know we were rooming together!"

Gillian and Mattea both glanced up to see the other three known occupants of their cabin standing in the doorway. Lovina was in front, arms crossed in front of her chest in an irritated posture, while Feliciana stood behind her, waving up at Gillian, who waved back. Behind her was Ally, who grinned at her sister until she noticed Gillian sitting on the bunk right above her.

"Hey, I wanted to bunk with Mattie!"

Gillian stuck her tongue out in a childish gesture. "Too bad. I got here first."

Mattea was rather confused by the two Italian girls, as neither of them had any bags. Were they serious about not staying here? She really wouldn't mind if they didn't. At least, if Lovina didn't… She didn't know if she had it in her to deal with the temperamental girl for two weeks straight.

Lovina didn't seem to be serious, though, since she walked inside and began surveying the beds critically.

And then her question was answered when Antonio stepped inside, absolutely beaming while almost bent over in half from the weight of one large suitcase, one huge duffle-bag, a backpack, and a handbag. All decorated with a matching tomato print.

"Lovi~ where do you want your stuff?"

Lovina turned, scowling at him once before settling beside the bunk farthest away from Gill and Mattie's. "I guess this one. I'll take the top bunk, Feli, since you'd fall out."

"Okay!" Feliciana skipped over as Antonio shuffled over, setting the bags carefully on the ground and then slowly rising to a standing position, rubbing at his lower back.

Ludwig then stepped in as well, blushing slightly as he caught his sister flash him a mocking grin. He had fewer bags than Antonio, although he was still carrying a suitcase and backpack, along with a pink purse that looked rather comical in his large hands.

"Ve~ thank you, Ludwig!" Feliciana darted back over to him, standing on tiptoe so she could kiss his cheek, before sliding the purse out of his hands and carrying it over to her bed. "Ludwig's so big and strong~!"

Ludwig turned very _very _red at that. His face almost matching the tomatoes on Lovina's luggage.

"You two are so whipped!" Gillian giggled from her bunk, as she leaned out and flicked a hair tie toward Lovina. She pouted when it fell short. "I want somebody to carry my luggage. I had to do it all by myself!"

Ludwig did not look sympathetic to his sister's plight. Actually, neither did anyone else in the room.

Ally was pouting, flashing Gill a dirty look, as she rested her things on the top bunk of one of the last empty bunk beds. "Is anybody else rooming with us?"

"The girls' cabins each have six girls, so there should be one more comi…" Ludwig started.

And then he was interrupted when the door swung open.

To reveal a girl standing outside, holding a black briefcase in one hand and a knife in the other.

Every single person in the room froze in terror, except for Feliciana who at least had enough mental faculties to realize that she'd be safer if she hid behind Ludwig.

The girl, however, just looked around, slowly walking across the room to the last completely empty bed, right between Ally and the Vargas girls, who both looked as if they were about to die of fright.

Then she remarked, in a completely deadpan voice, "I need to go find brother now."

Nobody answered. All attempting to remember how to breathe.

For a moment, she looked around, taking in her surroundings. Then she turned, ignoring the room's other occupants, and walked straight back through the door, heading toward the boys' cabins.

No one spoke for a few moments… They were attempting to calm their racing hearts… And then Mattea looked up at Gill, who appeared horrified, and attempted to speak as calmly as possible… "We're rooming with Natalya…"

Gillian immediately defended herself. "Grandpa's fault! Not mine!" Wasn't her fault her Grandpa had burst in and she'd had to hide in the closet before she could read the last name!

"Ve~ Ludwig? Can I stay in your roo—?"

"If you say yes, I will carve your eyeballs out with a spoon, potato bastard!!"

Mattea sighed and collapsed back against the bed, covering her face with her pillow in hope that she might suffocate herself. This was going to be a long two weeks…

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A/N: Woo. Ah, summer camp. How much insanity there can be… Okay, so I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to make this a drama or comedy. I'm kind of leaning towards drama with comedic elements, which means it'll probably turn out rather long. And I am gonna do my mafia one, but I decided to hold on that til I'd gone home and could go to the library and research the mafia.

Okay, so I'm taking requests for couples besides the main ones that I already mentioned. I can't promise they'll all make them in, since it'll depend on a bunch of different factors, but I'll definitely consider any requests that I receive.


	2. Chapter 2: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 2**

Arthur wasn't sure how exactly this had happened, but he had a sneaking suspicion that however it had occurred, Gillian was at least mostly—if not entirely—to blame.

"Ah, mon cher! Why don't you bunk with moi?"

After all, he was pretty sure that she was the only person that he knew—with hacking experience—who would somehow manage to get him stuck rooming with _Francis_.

"Fuck off."

He glanced around the room. Four bunks, one of which—the one farthest against the left wall—had already been claimed by Heracles and Kiku. Leaving three left. One of which would hold the frog, which meant he wanted to be as far from that one as he could possibly be.

At least Heracles and Kiku were normal. Or…relatively normal. Heracles was already fast asleep on the top bunk of his and Kiku's bed, while Kiku was just sitting on his mattress, flipping through the pages of one of his manga. He could bunk beside them…

And suddenly Francis was behind him, attempting to slide his hands into the back pockets of Arthur's jeans.

Arthur had always had pretty good reflexes. Unfortunately, so did Francis.

"Aw, why not, Arthur? We used to share beds all the time."

And unfortunately for Francis, Arthur's reflexes got even better when you really _really _ticked him off.

"I told you to shut up about that!" Francis was now seated on the floor, holding his hand to where Arthur had managed to catch his cheek with his fist.

"Ow…I think you broke my jaw…" he hissed.

"I wish. Then I wouldn't have to put up with you for two weeks." Maybe he could still get a ride home. They weren't that far from the highway. He could hitch-hike his way back…

"Hola, mis amigos!!"

And his day just kept getting better and better.

Arthur and Francis both turned to see Antonio standing in the doorway, grinning brightly at them as he pulled a rolled suitcase inside—tomato-print, surprise surprise…

"Ah! Antoine!" And now Francis was by his friend's side, grabbing the suitcase from his hand and setting it on the bunk below his own, apparently completely forgetting about harassing Arthur into sharing his bed. "I thought that Monsieur Beilschmidt had split us up?"

"I guess he changed his mind." Antonio sat down on the bed, Francis immediately taking the opportunity to sit right in front of him on the floor. "I carried Lovi's things up to her cabin. She's with Gill."

"Oui?" Francis sounded amused by this tidbit of information. "Hard to believe that wasn't planned."

Arthur wasn't sure who to feel sorrier for. Gillian or Lovina. Actually, he just felt sorry for anyone sharing the room with them.

"Who else is with Gilly?" Francis continued to question, hands starting to inch up to Antonio's belt.

Antonio, in typical obliviousness, didn't even appear to notice. Which led Arthur was wonder how anyone could be that oblivious and still be living. You'd think Antonio would have gotten hit by a truck by now.

"Well, Feliciana is, and Mattie, and Ally…" Arthur immediately stopped listening at that point.

Ally. Ally and he had spent the entire ride here either arguing or sitting in silence, glaring out of the windows. Very romantic, right? He sometimes wondered if maybe this whole business was his punishment for those wild years during middle school and the very beginning of high school. He'd managed to keep himself out of juvenile hall and somehow free of any sort of STD's, so instead he was being punished by having to mentally suffer through being in love with someone who was completely out of his league. Brave, talented, intelligent (when she wanted to be), incredibly beautiful Ally…

And it wouldn't even be so bad if he was just in love with her and she had no idea that he existed. He could live with that. No. It was the fact that she—for whatever reason—had decided that he was her best friend that drove him crazy. He couldn't get away from her.

Even though all they ever did was argue and insult each other.

And then he was interrupted from his thoughts by a vibrating from his pocket. He sighed and pulled the phone from his pocket, already guessing what she'd sent…

_im stuck w th evil albino!_

And he was right. Arthur sighed as he immediately started to type out a response. He couldn't understand what Ally had against Gillian. He actually would have thought that they'd get along. After all, they were both interested in sports, liked the same movies, preferred spending time with guys instead of other girls. Plus they were both egotistical, obnoxious, never knew when to shut up…

Actually, that was probably the reason they didn't get along. You could only fit so much ego in one room before something exploded.

And suddenly the phone vibrated again, interrupting his attempts at a response.

_and shes still stalkin mattie!_

Yes, this was definitely karma coming to bite him in the ass.

Arthur sat down on one of the as-of-yet unclaimed beds—vaguely noticing that Antonio had lost his shirt at some point in his conversation with Francis. He almost made a movement to stop them, but then realized that as long as Francis was molesting Antonio, he was safe…

_Al, you do realize that you're being stereotypical? Just because Gill is albino doesn't mean that she's evil._

Ally responded within a few seconds. _she has red eyes_

What did that have to do with anything?

Another buzz. _red eyes = demonic possession_

Arthur was not going to dignify that with a response. One of these days, he was going to sneak into Ally's house and steal all of her sci-fi and horror movies. Mattie would probably be happy to let him in.

At this, the door suddenly swung open again, this time revealing three figures. First was Wang Yao, who offered everyone a polite nod as he stepped inside. Revealing that he happened to be rolling a Hello Kitty suitcase behind him. And he was carrying a Hello Kitty duffle bag… Arthur decided to just let that one go…

Next was Ivan Braginski, who walked inside with a suitcase in one hand…and part of a water pipe in the other. "Hello, everyone!" he greeted them happily. "We're all going to have such fun being roommates, da?"

There had to be a way to get a room change. There just had to be a way…

And then last was Ludwig, who walked inside and immediately asked, "Which bunks have already been claimed?"

Arthur pointed toward the one that Kiku and Heracles were sitting on and then motioned toward Francis and Antonio. "Those two."

Ludwig nodded at Kiku and then turned slightly toward Francis and Antonio, mouth opened as if he were about to speak.

And he turned a shade of red that would have put Antonio's tomatoes to shame.

"What in the world are you doing?!"

Francis glanced up from where he'd been straddling his friend, who was currently dressed in only his boxers, and grinned in faux innocence. "What are you talking about, mon ami?"

"Hola, Ludwig." Antonio grinned up at the other man, seemingly not noticing his intense embarrassment, only moving in an attempt to sit up. "Francis, let me up…"

Francis pouted, but obeyed. Darn Ludwig, ruining his fun…

Ludwig someone managed not to run over to where Arthur was sitting—aka: the bunk farthest from Francis and Antonio—but he did walk at a rather fast pace. "Do you mind if I take this bunk?"

Arthur didn't mind. It would mean that he wouldn't have to share with the psychotic Russian.

Although he did feel bad for Yao.

Not enough to volunteer to switch places with him, but enough to feel bad about the fact that he was going to be stuck bunking with Ivan.

"I'll take the top bunk, if you want."

Ludwig immediately nodded, waiting as Arthur stood up and set his own bag on the upper bunk. And then felt his phone vibrate again.

_ur ignoring me :(_

_y dont u com c my cabin?__ :)_

Arthur sighed as he read through the texts, again coming right after each other. They'd only been here for about ten minutes and she was already starting to drive him crazy. _Al, I haven't even had a chance to settle in yet. We have dinner soon anyway. I'll see you then._

She replied with a simple _ur no fun_,which he chose to ignore in favour of working on making his bed. And trying to pretend that Antonio and Francis didn't exist. Who were already making plans for pranks to pull on the other cabin and the supervisors…And probably him…

And then there was a sudden harsh knock on the door.

For a long moment, no one reacted, startled by the sudden interruption. All the beds were filled, so it couldn't be another dorm mate.

Arthur wondered if it was Ally, completely ignoring him like usual and just deciding to come and bother him anyway. It would not be the first time she'd done it. And unfortunately, it also wouldn't be the last.

Then again, since when did Ally knock? Knowing her, she'd have just burst in. Completely ignoring the fact that it was a _guys' _cabin and that there might be guys inside, changing.

"I'll get it!" Francis sounded way too excited to be having a visitor. Plus he skipped…_skipped_…to answer it. Throwing the door open with an excited "Bonjour!" before suddenly noticing who it was and slamming it right back into the visitor's face.

His face had gone almost white and he was visibly trembling…

Arthur's curiosity had definitely been piqued. "What the hell was that for? Who was it?"

"Ah…" He opened his mouth, about to answer, when…

"Brother! Why haven't you come to visit me yet? You haven't forgotten about me, right??"

And now Ivan was the one to turn an unhealthy shade of white.

Arthur immediately sat upright, terror running down his spine at the sound of _that girl's_ voice. "Fuck, Francis, lock the door!"

Arthur's call had snapped Francis out of his terror. At least long enough for him to remember that there _was _a lock on the door. And that it could be used to—at the very least—slow the psychotic female down, if not actually stop her.

So he locked it and then ran over to his bed, where Antonio was sitting with a confused expression on his face.

"Whose idea was it to let her come along on this trip?"

They could hear scratching from outside… And cries of "Brother?? Brother??"

Arthur was pretty sure that he was going to have nightmares from this…

Hitch-hiking his way back home was sounding more appealing by the minute.

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A/N: So I've decided that for this story, I'm going to do some fun POV shifting. Each chapter will be in the 3rd limited POV of a different character; I'll try to do all of the main characters along with some other side people. (Although we'll see. I've never tried writing from the POVs of some of these characters, so it should be interesting.)

And, just cuz I'm not sure how familiar you guys are with writing terminology, 3rd limited POV (point of view) refers to a writing style in which the writer only allows the reader to delve into the mind of one specific character (although I did some omniscient stuff in the last chapter that I may or may not go back and change…)

And more couples will be showing up later. :) Since you guys gave me some good ideas. I'm trying to decide right now if I want to gen!flip anybody else…

I'll also be drawing some maps of the layout of the campground and the interior of the cabins soonish… (Do not expect anything good, just simple sketches) I won't be able to upload them til I get home, but it'll probably help both you and me keep better track of what's going on. It's a very very small campground—as you can probably tell since there's only 8 people max in each cabin. And we're only going to be focusing on 3, possibly 4 cabins.


	3. Chapter 3: Lovina

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 3**

There were certain things about the world that Lovina could not understand. The main one—the one that she most frequently wondered about—was simply this. Why in the world did people...relatively intelligent people...always end up falling for complete idiots?

"So apparently they're keeping the paintball guns locked up! That's so unawesome!! You'd think we'd killed someone or something." Lovina flashed Antonio a glare out of the corner of her eye. Why was she sitting with _his_ friends?

Although she supposed it was better than sitting next to her sister and that stupid potato bastard.

"You did send that boy to the hospital, ma chéri."

"That was an accident!"

Francis shrugged. "And I don't think you were supposed to shoot at the instructor."

"They didn't explain that well enough!"

Yes, so example number one. Gillian and Mattea. It hadn't taken Lovina very long to realize that something was going on between them. It had taken her even less time to coax the answer out of Antonio, who had finally told her that 'yes, they were in fact dating, but please please don't tell anyone because then Gill would be angry at him for telling her'.

Really? Did Gill actually expect Antonio to be able to keep this a secret? Especially from _her_. The idiot told her everything. Including some things that she would rather never ever know. Like his entire previous sexual history. Really, she did not want to know how many other girls (and guys; now that had been a bit of a surprise) he'd done the deed with before realizing that he was in love with her.

Mattea was now picking through her meal, apparently trying to decide if she were actually hungry enough to risk food poisoning. And attempting to surreptitiously watch Gillian as she and Francis argued over whether it was her fault that the paintball guns were now held under lock and key.

"Lovi, are you going to be coming with us?"

Lovina was startled by the sudden voice from her side, jumping slightly and turning her head rapidly toward the figure seated beside her. Otherwise known as the other half of example number two. Herself and Antonio.

"What?"

Antonio was leaning towards her, emerald eyes intent on hers, the near-constant smile stretched across his lips. "Are you coming swimming with us, Lovi?"

When in the world had they gotten on the topic of swimming? She snorted in response, shaking her head decidedly. "You think I want to see Francis in a fucking speedo again? My mind is still scarred from gym class!"

Gym class. Now that brought back many many mental images.

Not _all _of them bad, although the whole France coming into class wearing a speedo the first day had definitely mentally scarred her. It had been made at least a little better by the fact that she was also with Antonio. And seeing Antonio in swim trunks was something that she was pretty sure any girl would pay to see.

"Francis didn't bring his speedo. Please, Lovi?"

Stupid Antonio was begging. Damn it. She flashed him a furious glare, which should have sent him melting into a puddle of repentant goo.

Instead he grabbed her arm and cuddled it, staring up at her with wide, emerald eyes. "Por favor, Lovi?"

How? She was relatively intelligent, right? She wasn't a genius or anything like that, but she wasn't a complete idiot... So how had she ended up with a boyfriend like _him_?

"Fine, damn it. Ugh, you're so annoying sometimes."

Antonio just beamed in response before leaning across the table and rejoining Francis and Gillian in their argument.

Lovina sighed and shook her head slightly, glancing across the room to where her sister and the potato bastard were sitting. At the same table as Ally and Arthur, who were arguing as usual... Her sister was clinging to his arm, talking a mile a minute, as he attempted to ignore her and cut his hamburger into bite-sized pieces.

And then Lovina was startled as a pair of hands suddenly slapped against the table in front of her and a chest covered by a black skull and crossbones T-shirt filled her vision.

"Hey, sweetheart. You new here?"

Lovina blinked before her eyes rose to look into a pair of blue eyes staring at her from under a mop of curly blond hair. "Huh?" was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

Another boy was standing behind the first; this one dressed in a blood-red 'Guns and Roses' sleeveless shirt with a sleeveless black leather jacket worn over it. His hair was straight; black in that fake way that instantly gave away that it had been dyed, styled into spikes... He moved to stand beside his friend, a lewd grin crossing over his lips as he looked her over. Gaze stopping for _way _too long on her chest. "We haven't seen you around before, babe...And we'd definitely remember somebody like _you_."

Lovina had never been so happy to suddenly feel Antonio snake his arm around her waist and tug her up against his chest. She glanced up just long enough to note the furious glare in his emerald eyes. He was going into his overprotective mode again...

"My _girlfriend _and I just arrived here today with the rest of our school group. It's very nice to meet you." His tone was definitely saying the exact opposite...More along the lines of 'Mine. Touch and I'll break your arm.'

The newcomers glanced at each other before the blond suddenly smirked, leaning his elbows on the table. "Yo. I'm Drew. That's Rick. And you are?" He winked at Lovina, who flashed him an irritated glare as she scooted slightly closer to Antonio. She could feel that Antonio was trembling slightly...as if he was fighting against jumping up and beating the bastard to a bloody pulp.

She wouldn't actually mind if he lost that particular internal battle. Although then he'd probably get sent home or something, which would suck...

"I'm Antonio. Antonio Carriedo," Antonio answered, completely ignoring the fact that the question hadn't been directed at him. "This is my _girlfriend_,Lovina."

"Lovina. Such a pretty name." The blond, Drew, was still smirking. Obviously not intimidated by Antonio's tone.

"Isn't it, though?" And now there were suddenly two figures near her, Antonio behind her and Francis standing by her side, a hand resting on her shoulder. Usually, Lovina would have cursed him out for thinking he could touch her, but she'd make an exception in this case. And only in this case.

Unfortunately, this seemed to bring the males' attention to the fact that there were other people sitting at the table.

One of whom happened to be Gill.

Their eyes instantly widened in shock and more than a hint of blatant lust. "Holy shit, you've got an albino chick with you?" Drew exclaimed.

Wrong thing to say. Both Francis and Antonio, who had already been flashing them looks that hinted at massive body injuries if they didn't go away _now_, looked downright homicidal now.

Gillian, who hadn't even been paying attention to the conversation until this point since she'd been talking (flirting) with Mattie, now glanced up, obviously surprised by the remark. "What?"

"Don't pay any attention to them, Gill," Francis hissed, stepping in front of her while flashing the two boys a threatening glare. "They were just leaving..."

"Fuck no," the brunette, Rick, exclaimed, eyes now completely focused on Gillian. To the point where he completely ignored the warning hiss from Francis that came when he leaned across the table and grabbed one of Gill's hands. "Wow. I've never seen an albino before. You're fucking hot. What cabin are you in?"

Gillian looked completely confused by the sudden movement. Her eyes flickered down to her own hand and then back up into the teenager's eyes. "Uh..."

"What's going on over here?"

Lovina hated the potato bastard. She really did. He was going after her sister, after all. Even if he did seem clueless about that fact. But sometimes he could be really useful. Since he was big, muscular, and could pull off a really scary face when he wanted to. Like when someone was touching his sister...

Immediately both boys' eyes widened as they stared up at the much taller, much bigger, much scarier male.

"Ve~ Ludwig?" And he could even pull off scary overprotective brother while Feliciana was hanging off of his arm. That took some skill... "What's going on?"

"Why are you touching my sister?" Ludwig questioned, ignoring Feliciana's question in favour of placing the right degree of threat behind the query.

"Your sister?" Rick immediately dropped Gillian's hand and took a quick step backwards. "Ha... We were just introducing ourselves..."

Gillian looked rather confused about what had just happened. For a few seconds. Before she seemed to decide to just ignore it and instead grinned up at her younger brother. "Hey, Luddy. Are you coming swimming with us tomorrow morning?"

And the bastards now looked interested again, although they were at least intelligent enough to not say anything.

Lovina scowled at them and then moved closer to Antonio, resting her cheek right up against his chest, feeling his arms slide around her own torso and his chin settle on top of her head.

Mmm, he was nice and warm. And he smelled amazing...

"I want to go swimming!" Feliciana apparently didn't like feeling left out. She immediately stared up at Ludwig with her trademark big doe eyes. The ones that could get her _anything _that she wanted. Particularly from him. "Please, Ludwig? Come swimming with us!"

For a moment, Ludwig looked as if he were about to refuse. Then his eyes travelled back to the teenagers, who were still staring at Gillian—or, to be more specific, at Gillian's rather low-cut shirt—and they narrowed in anger. "Fine. All right, I'll go with you."

"Yay!" Gillian immediately leaned forward, inadvertently causing her shirt to fall open slightly... Both newcomers were practically drooling by this point.

And Mattea was flashing them a slightly panicked look.

"You're so awesome sometimes, bro!" Gillian immediately hugged her brother around the waist, ruby eyes lifting to beam up at him. He flushed slightly at the contact, attempting rather desperately to loosen her grip.

"Yay, Ludwig!" And then Feliciana joined in, hugging him with a death grip. So that now he had two girls hanging off of him.

Lovina flashed him a scowl. Stupid potato bastard. Stupid clingy sister...

And the two newcomers finally decided to leave them alone. Drew was the first to move, winking at Lovina before turning away. "Well, we'll see ya later. Come on, Rick."

"All right." Rick turned to follow his friend, just pausing long enough to give both Lovina and Gillian long once overs. Which Antonio definitely noticed, as his grip on her only tightened as he used his arms to cover as much of her as he could.

And then they finally left, walking straight out of the building after flashing more of the girls rather lewd looks.

Only once they were gone did Francis relax... Slightly. Very slightly. Antonio didn't relax at all.

Then Francis laughed, his voice coming out incredibly forced. "Antonio, if somebody finds those two hacked into little tiny pieces, I will definitely cover for you."

Antonio didn't respond. Just nuzzled his cheek against Lovina's hair, his grip tightening slightly.

Great. Even his best friend thought that her boyfriend was going to end up becoming an axe murderer. That was a comforting thought.

"So who were those guys?" Gill suddenly questioned, glancing between her brother and Francis. "What'd they want?"

Ludwig didn't respond. He just continued to scowl, and then glanced toward Feliciana, who was glancing up at him rather curiously. "Feli, if those guys ever try to talk to you, you come and tell me, okay?"

She blinked in surprise, but then nodded immediately. "Okay, Ludwig."

All right, so at least the potato bastard could sometimes give good advice. But if those guys dared to touch her little sister, then _she _would be the one to hack them into little pieces with an axe.

Although, now that she thought about it. It'd be so much easier to just drown them in the lake. Less messy, too...

"So..." And now Francis chuckled again, shaking his head slightly as he glanced at Antonio. "We were saying something about how amazing I looked in a speedo?"

* * *

A/N: Sorry this update took so long. Unfortunately, the only way I'm able to keep up my super speedy updates with Changement is if I focus mainly on that one.

Still, I hope you liked it. Rick and Drew are OC's, so they aren't supposed to represent any countries or anything, in case you were confused. I don't like making any of the nations into villains, since I can't see any of them really being that evil...


	4. Chapter 4: Ludwig

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 4**

It really shouldn't have surprised Ludwig at all when he woke up in the middle of the night to find Feliciana cuddled against his side, her arms wrapped tightly around his left arm, head resting right against his chest. After all, it wasn't like this was anything new.

At least he could thank God that she had clothes on this time. He still hadn't gotten over the last time he'd woken up to find her wrapped around him, completely naked.

"Feli?" Ludwig gently attempted to shake her off, hoping that she might take the hint and let go of him. Which she didn't, not surprising him at all. Instead, she just latched more tightly to the captured limb.

"Feli?" he repeated, sighing when he received no answer. He glanced at the alarm clock that he'd set beside his pillow last night. 3:49. In the morning. Another sigh. "Feli, how did you get in here?" They'd locked and barred the door last night—mostly against Ivan's insane sister—but it should have worked against persistent little Italian girls too.

She made a soft sound of contentment in her sleep and just cuddled closer.

Ludwig often wondered how exactly he'd ended up with the friends that he had. He often felt like he was the only sane person among them.

And, as if to prove his point, his eyes now gradually shifted over to the bed where Antonio and Francis were slee—no, _should _be sleeping. And were not currently sleeping.

Well, at least now he knew how she had gotten in.

"Feli..." he attempted again to wake her, shaking her shoulders a little harder.

She groaned and clung even more tightly, her eyelids starting to flutter...

"Feli, wake up."

Another moan, this one slightly louder. Ludwig winced, glancing toward the other beds. Everyone else was still asleep, thank God. Although Kiku had rolled over at the noise. What in the world would they think if they saw him like this with her?

Actually, knowing most of them, they'd think absolutely nothing of it. That was how insane his friends—and Feliciana—were. Nobody considered it at all weird that Feliciana, for whatever reason, loved to sneak into his bed in the middle of the night. Wearing minimal clothing.

At the moment, said minimal clothing consisted of a short, thin nightgown that wasn't doing too much to help his embarrassment.

Ludwig blushed as this realization started to poke at the back of his mind. Damn it, why couldn't she have a little more shame?

"Feliciana," he whispered her full name now, hoping that she'd finally listen. And get off of him.

She finally started to respond, her eyelids slowly opening to reveal a pair of amber eyes that stared up at him sleepily. "Ve~ Ludwig?"

He didn't allow her enough time to wake up completely before he asked the question, rather harshly, "Where did Francis and Antonio go?"

She yawned in response, still not releasing his arm. If anything, she cuddled it even more. "Ve~ they went to see big sisters Gillian and Lovina."

Ludwig sighed again at this answer. Of course, why had he even bothered to ask? He'd known as soon as he saw the empty beds that they were off creating chaos with his sister somewhere. Possibly TP'ing another cabin, or breaking into the shed where the paint guns were being kept, or trespassing on someone's private property in search of bears. "Do you know where they went?"

"They said they were just going back to the cabin." Again, she yawned, shifting her grip on him slightly. So that now he could feel her breasts pushing against his arm, the thin shirt doing absolutely nothing to help him.

"Ah, Feli!" And now he jerked upright at that, banging his head on the bunk above him, almost throwing the girl off of the narrow bed and straight onto the floor.

And she was typically oblivious to what had happened. "Ve~ what's wrong, Ludwig?"

Ludwig could not deal with this sort of thing. He'd never been able to deal with anything involving girls and hormones and the fact that Feli wasn't the little toddler who practically stalked him as a child anymore. He hurriedly shook his head at this thought, forcing the blush away from his cheeks.

Sometimes he really wondered about her. It wasn't like she could really be that clueless about decency and all of those sorts of things. She had to realize at least some of the time that what she was doing was completely inappropriate for people their age.

He sighed and slowly began to form the words that he'd wanted to tell her multiple times before. "Feli, you can't keep coming into my room to sleep with me like this. It was all right when we were little kids, but...not anymore."

"But why?" She looked absolutely heartbroken at the words and now moved from clinging to his arm to actually clinging to his chest. "Why can't we? I like sleeping with you, Ludwig."

Ludwig turned beet red at that; how could she not realize how that sounded? How you could take that two completely different ways? If her sister heard her...

Wait a minute. "Feli, does Lovina know where you are?"

Feliciana hesitated, her grip on Ludwig loosening slightly as she frowned to herself. Obviously she hadn't thought about this until now. "Ve~ umm..."

"You didn't tell Lovina where you were going?"

"I'm sure that Francis and Antonio will tell her once they get to the cabin!" And now she was smiling brilliantly again, seemingly not realizing that this was probably not the best way to let her sister know anything.

He was going to be getting death threats again. Not that he ever _wasn't _getting death threats from Lovina, but the amount of them would probably increase now. And—unfortunately—her German was getting better, so her death threats kept getting more and more creative. Some of the more recent ones were downright disturbing.

"All right, Feli." He began to stand up, wincing when his bed creaked. Hoping that no one woke up because of it. "I'm going to take you back now."

"But, Ludwig..." She looked heartbroken again. "I don't wanna—"

"Feli, you're going back to your cabin." And he turned, holding his hand out to her.

After a moment, she took it, pouting up at him as if hoping that he would reconsider. And pouting even more when he ignored her completely and lifted her to her feet.

And then he noticed that the bed above his was also empty.

"Feli, where's Arthur?"

"Ve~ he went with Antonio and Francis."

So almost half of his cabin had decided to head out and raid the girls' cabin. There went his hope that at least _Arthur _would have some common sense. He could just tell that someone was going to get kicked out before a week had gone by.

"Fine. Fine. Come on, Feli." He quickly slipped his shoes and jacket on, and then started to move toward the door.

Before realizing that Feliciana was now standing beside him in only her nightgown. No shoes on the floor, no jacket. He could tell just because of the coolness in the cabin that it was probably freezing outside.

Not that Feliciana seemed to care. "Ve~ are we going to join their party, Ludwig?"

He began to search the floor. She hadn't really come here without any shoes or a coat, had she? That was a long walk. A very long walk. Especially in the dark. Especially since he knew that she was afraid of the dark. "Feli, where are your shoes?"

"Ve~ I didn't wear any."

"And jacket?"

She immediately shook her head, staring up at him with completely innocent eyes. As if expecting him to be able to solve everything.

The worst part was that this was exactly what she thought.

He sighed and started to slide his jacket off his shoulders, before Feliciana's eyes widened in distress and she shook her head violently. "Ve~ but then Ludwig will be cold!"

"Feli, you're only wearing a nightgown. You'll freeze..."

"Ludwig could carry me." She stretched her arms up toward him, smiling slightly at the startled expression that crossed his face. "Then we'll both be warm."

Oh, no. There was no way that he was going to be carrying Feliciana all the way across the campsite. Especially not while his sister and her friends were lurking about. They'd tease him for the rest of his life. And especially not when she was wearing something like _that _nightgown.

But then again, she didn't have any shoes and it wasn't like she could just slip into his. They'd fall right off her feet.

Damn it, Feli always made things more difficult than they needed to be. "All right, fine. I'll carry you. But just until we get close to the cabin, all right?"

She squealed in excitement, almost causing Ludwig to have a heart attack. He hurriedly glanced toward the other beds, thanking his lucky stars that nobody had woken up. He needed to get her out of here quickly, though.

"All right." How to do this? He stepped forward and then decided that probably the easiest way—and the one that involved the least actual skin to skin contact—was if he carried her bridal style. Bridal style. Just the thought sent a flush to his cheeks. He definitely needed to make sure that Gillian didn't see him. She already teased him all the time about him and Feliciana getting married someday. This would just be fuel for the fire.

He carefully lifted her up, receiving an excited 'Ve~' and a pair of arms around his neck in response. And then carefully carried her out of the room, being cautious in opening the door as slowly as possible so it didn't creak.

It was lucky that Feliciana was so light; if she wasn't, it would be much much more difficult for him to carry her all the way across the campsite like this. Even _with_ her being as light as she was, it still was rather challenging. Particularly since he had to walk up a steep hill in order to actually reach the girls' cabin.

Meaning that it was an exhausted, semi-irritated Ludwig who finally opened the door to his sister and assorted company's cabin after setting Feliciana on the ground so no one inside would see that he'd carried her up. And it was an exhausted, semi-irritated Ludwig who found his older sister standing on top of the only single bed in the room with a water pistol in her hand.

He hadn't even had time to open his mouth before he was soaked.

"Haha! I knew you'd show up, Luddy!"

Why couldn't he have been an only child? Why?

* * *

A/N: Poor Germany. He can't win. No matter what. Although, psh. He should stop trying to fight because he and Feliciana are so getting married someday ;D

So here I am in Paris. It is SUCH a lovely city!! Although last night I arrived to find out that I had absolutely no money in my account. That was not the most pleasant way to start the week, especially when you owe the hostel about $200 dollars. Thankfully, everything worked out and now I'm enjoying myself in the city of lights. Plus, today I went on a free tour that was absolutely BRILLIANT! :D I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't know about this company when I was in Edinburgh, because it was so enjoyable.

Anyway, so yes, that's my news for today. Paris is lovely. I haven't run into Francis yet, though.


	5. Chapter 5: Gillian

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 5**

Lovina had been less than thrilled when she had woken up to find Antonio standing beside her bed, staring at her and stroking her hair as if he had every right to be there. She'd been even angrier when she found out from said Antonio that he and Francis had escorted her sister down to Ludwig's cabin because she had wanted to go and have a 'sleepover' with him.

Gillian had found the other girl's reaction to be one of the funniest things she'd ever seen. Poor Antonio, though. _She _hadn't even known all of the words that Lovina had ended up screeching at him, probably waking up the entire rest of the campground in the process.

It had taken at least ten minutes to calm her down to a slightly more reasonable state. Had taken even longer for Antonio to finally get her to relax enough that she would sit on her sister's unoccupied bed, as Antonio braided her hair and cooed to her in Spanish.

Gillian had been shocked that he was successful. Antonio was apparently a miracle worker.

The other occupants of the room were rather less calm about things, though.

"Mon cher Arthur..."

"If you try to touch me again, frog, I swear that I will make sure that you never reproduce." Of course the loudest people in the room would be Arthur and Francis, as they were arguing with each other. Surprise surprise. Gillian couldn't remember a moment in her life when those two had gotten along. At the moment, Arthur was leaning against one of the walls, Francis standing next to him. Apparently a little too close for Arthur's comfort...

Ally was asleep. Gillian wasn't sure how in the world she'd managed that. She'd fallen asleep before Francis and Antonio had shown up and had somehow slept through not only Lovina's freak out, but also Arthur and Francis's constant arguments and Gill poking her to make sure that she wasn't dead.

Natalya was gone. Nobody had questioned her when she'd decided to leave. Of course. Because nobody here was suicidal like that.

And her adorable little Mattie was sitting upright on her bed, watching the others with a rather exhausted expression. Gillian did feel bad about waking her up, but it wasn't entirely her fault. They needed a place to plan how they were going to make this trip more exciting. Since at the moment, it was not looking good. As those jerks had locked up the paintball guns and everything.

Besides, Mattie looked even cuter than usual when she was half asleep.

Anyway, so she'd taken Feliciana down to Ludwig's cabin about half an hour ago, picking up Antonio, Francis, and Arthur while she was there. And now the four of them—six if you counted the drowsy Lovina and Mattea—could begin planning...

"He's at the door, Gillian!"

Right after this. Gill hurriedly jumped down from her bed and darted over to where she'd left the water pistol that Francis had smuggled in for her; she'd assumed that Ludwig would steal hers. He was so predictable. And then climbed on top of the only single bed in the room, smirking as she waited for the door to open.

And her sweet, darling little brother that she loved with all her heart to step through.

She had pretty awesome aim if she did say so herself.

"Haha! I knew you'd show up, Luddy!"

Besides Roddy, Ludwig was definitely her favourite person to pick on. It was what little brothers were for, anyway. Even if her little brother was technically a lot bigger and stronger than she was.

And right now he was just gaping at her in shock as water streamed down his cheeks.

Lovina had immediately laughed at that, receiving an exasperated stare from the now semi-soaked Ludwig.

"Gillian..."

Gill jumped off the bed and hurried to sit next to Mattie, snaking an arm around the other girl's waist. And received the _cutest _blush in response. "Hi, Luddy! What brings you here this lovely morning?"

He just _looked_ at her. And then sighed, glancing back at Feliciana, who now peeked out from behind him and flashed everyone a bright smile. "Hi!"

Seriously, besides Mattie, Feliciana was the cutest little thing in the world. It was part of the reason why she and Luddy definitely had to get together. Besides, Ludwig was less uptight and unfun when his adorable Feli was around.

Plus, Gillian would totally be the most awesome auntie ever when they finally _did _have an adorable little baby. She could teach her (or him; she'd be fine with either) all of the awesome things that her uncle Fritz had taught her.

"Hey, Feli," she responded, waving back at the younger girl, who skipped ahead of Ludwig to sit beside Gillian on Mattea's bed, giving the albino girl a massive hug in greeting.

"Why am I here, Gillian?" Arthur suddenly questioned, as he slapped one of Francis's hands away from his belt buckle. "It's four fucking o'clock in the morning. This had better be important, since you dragged me out of bed for it. And you said you had beer..."

Gillian just beamed back at him, ignoring the scowl she received in response. "Of course it's important, Artie! I have to tell you guys my awesome plans! And we don't have the beer _yet_, but we'll get it soon."

Arthur looked rather irritated at this. Understandably, as Antonio and Francis had woken him up half an hour ago and practically dragged him to the girls' cabin. Promising him beer if he agreed to come with them. Which he hadn't received.

"First off," Gill started, ignoring Arthur's irritation and the look that she was receiving from Ludwig that plainly expressed exasperation with her. "I made a plan for how we're going to retrieve the paintball guns. And I also started making plans for how we're going to prank the other cabins. Since you can't go to a camp without pranking everybody else! It'd totally go against the rules of camping."

"Which one would we prank first?" Francis questioned, finally growing bored with Arthur and starting to move over toward Antonio. Who now had a probably-asleep Lovina curled up on his lap, her head resting against his chest, her fingers loosely clutching his shirt.

"Roddy's, of course! Number seven." Did he really need to ask? Of course she would prank Roderich's cabin first. That went without saying.

"Gill," Mattea suddenly murmured, her voice slurring slightly from sheer exhaustion. The girl was having a tough time just keeping her eyes open, as she leaned against her bedpost. Gillian had to hold herself back from squealing at how adorable she looked. "Gill, you guys really shouldn't be doing this. If anybody finds out that the guys are here, we're gonna get in huge trouble."

Gillian smiled slightly, waving the remark away with a quick gesture. "Aw, don't worry, Mattie. Nobody's gonna find out. Besides, how else are we supposed to plan our pranks if we can't even see the guys? That'd be totally inconvenient."

Mattea was way too exhausted to argue. She just sighed and closed her eyes as she lay back against her bedspread. "If we get in trouble, don't say I didn't warn you."

Arthur now cut in again. "And what does this have to do with me? I'm not interested in something as juvenile as pranking..."

"Because you're the best out of us at breaking into buildings! So we'll need you to help us break into the shed where they're keeping the paintball guns."

She was greeted by silence. Arthur staring at her in horror before he started to stutter, "I—I—I'm not—Gill! I told you that I don't do that sort of thing anymore!"

Gillian shrugged. "Aw, come on. Just this once? It's not a big deal."

Arthur hurriedly shook his head. "Absolutely not. There is no way that I would do something like that..."

"But if you help us get the paintball guns, then we'll actually be able to have some fun here! Otherwise this whole trip is going to be completely boring and totally unfun..." And then she suddenly switched tactics. "What if I promise that you and Francis can be on opposite teams? And I can put Ally on yours!"

"Wha—what?!" He almost screeched that. "What does Al have to do with anything?"

Gillian rolled her eyes at his remark. Seriously, it'd be so much easier to get the two of them together if Artie would just stop denying that there was something between them.

"Fine, I'll put Ally on the opposite team and she can pelt you with paintballs. Will _that _make you happy?"

"Gillian, I am not breaking into anyplace for you..."

"And there is no way that I'm letting you do something so irresponsible," Ludwig interrupted. "Opa would be absolutely furious if he found out about it. It'd be even worse than the...toilet incident."

Gillian pouted, flashing them both rather irritated glares. "You guys are totally unawesome."

And suddenly Feliciana broke in, jumping up and giving the girl a huge hug. "Ve~ don't be sad, Gill! I'll help you!"

"No!" Ludwig hurriedly jumped forward, his expression horrified.

Gillian giggled in amusement at the sight as she hugged the absolutely adorable little Italian girl. "Aw, thanks, Feli. You're so much nicer than my meanie big brother and Artie."

Arthur looked as if he were about to say something in response to this, but he was interrupted by a sudden cry of pain from Francis and a string of incensed curses in Italian. Which succeeded in waking Mattea again, causing her to jump up in surprise and hit her head on the bunk above her.

"Ow..."

"You get your fucking hands away from me, perverted bastard! And don't you dare even think about touching Antonio!!"

"Ow, ma petite..."

"Lovi, you shouldn't hit people..."

And this _finally _managed what nothing else had. As it caused Ally to roll over, groan, and slowly open her eyes. And then she jerked upright in surprise, hitting her _own _head against the ceiling. "Ow! Hey! What's going on?"

"OW! Antoine!! Lovina!!"

"Fucking frog bastard pervert!!"

"Lovi! Don't pull Francis's hair!!"

And that sent Gillian into hysterics. After all, who _wouldn't _absolutely die of laughter at the sight of Lovina attempting to tear Francis's hair out by the roots while Antonio attempted to drag her off and Francis cursed and screeched at her in French? That's what he got for groping Antonio while Lovina was there.

Ally just stared at them in shock. And then she noticed Arthur and sat up even straighter, eyes widening in surprise and a slight twinge of horror.

And her hands automatically moved to pat at her hair. Gillian wanted to snort at that. Yeah, and she tried to pretend that she wasn't head over heels for the guy.

Arthur's eyes moved from staring in amazement and sadistic delight at the fight scene to looking up at her. And he immediately flushed. "Ah, Al…"

"Why are you guys in our cabin? What's going on?"

Arthur just stared at her for a moment. Gillian smirking as she realized why; Ally happened to be wearing a nightgown at the moment. A nightgown that was a little too big for her…and was consequently falling off her shoulder. Revealing quite a bit of bare skin.

She was surprised that Arthur wasn't drooling yet.

He suddenly seemed to realize that he was staring, however, and hurriedly turned away, moving toward the door while grabbing the nearest male arm, which happened to belong to a rather startled Antonio. "We're leaving. Now. Before we get caught."

"But, Art—" Antonio started to argue, glancing back at Lovina and Francis. Who were engaged in a battle over Francis's hair. Lovina had a rather impressive grip for such a little thing. Francis finally, however, managed to wrench his head free with a yelp of pain. Leaving behind a handful of blond strands in her fist.

"OWW!!" He jumped up, moving out of reach and holding a hand against his injured head. "Oui! We'll go now!"

And all three hurriedly left, Arthur dragging a protesting Antonio behind him while Francis whined to himself in his native language. And then, before Feliciana could make a move to stop him, Ludwig followed them, slamming the door shut behind him.

Leaving the girls alone in the cabin.

"Ve~ But I wanted to stay with Ludwig…" Feliciana looked absolutely heartbroken at being left behind.

While Lovina just held a chunk of Francis's hair in her fist and continued to glare at the door as if ready to rush through and continue her attempts at murdering her French classmate.

Ally just looked completely confused. "Wai—what happened? Why was Artie here?"

Gillian pouted again, crossing her arms over her chest and dropping back onto Mattea's bed. Forcing Mattie to scoot slightly to the side. Well, that could've gone better…

"How am I supposed to get the paintball guns _now_?"

* * *

A/N: Hmm, kind of a filler chapter. So, I wrote this on the plane ride from London to Newark. Which means that I'm home now! …Weird…Very weird… I miss my London-town already :( Although it is nice to be home. And now to sleep, since my brain is going into jetlag mode.

Next chapter should be more interesting. Although the image of Lovina attacking Francis amused me rather intensely for some reason. Poor Francis. Although it is his own fault.


	6. Chapter 6: Francis

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 6**

Francis loved going to the beach. The sun, the surf, the sand, the girls running around in teeny-tiny bikinis, the guys showing off their nicely chiselled upper bodies... He could just lie here all day and watch everyone enjoy themselves while wearing minimal amounts of clothing.

Right now, he was focused on the volleyball game that was taking place a little ways down the beach. Or to be more specific, the girls that were _playing _volleyball a little ways down the beach. The most distracting one was, of course, Ivan's sister. The sane one. Who was bouncing around in her too-small bikini. A couple other things bouncing with her every movement.

Ah, how he loved summertime.

"Spit!... Ha! I got it!"

"Ow...Gill, you didn't need to slap my hand that hard..."

Francis glanced over in the direction of the voices coming from behind him, amused at the sight of Mattie holding her hand and flashing Gill an exasperated look. And Gillian looked rather apologetic as she took the hand in hers and brought the palm to her lips.

Ah, l'amour. How he loved it. At least, he loved it when Gill was dating someone as adorable and sweet as little Mattea. If she had ended up dating any of those boys that had been trying to ask her out since middle school, he wouldn't be near as happy about it. But Mattie was the perfect complement for his rather wild friend.

"Isn't Lovi so pretty, Francis?"

Francis was startled from his thoughts by this sudden remark from his other friend, who was currently lying on his stomach in the sand, staring across the beach toward the dock separating the swimming area of the lake from the boating area. The dock where Lovina was standing, dressed in an emerald green bikini and black sarong. Yelling at someone who was swimming in the water nearby.

Antonio looked completely lovestruck, his eyes completely captured by the bad-tempered Italian girl. He hadn't even looked up when he asked the possibly rhetorical question.

She definitely was pretty. Actually, out of all of the girls on the beach at the moment, she was definitely one of the prettiest. Not that Francis would ever say anything like that to his friend.

Antonio was one of those people who was completely laid-back and unfazed by things that would bother most normal people. You could tease him, hit him, throw things at him, call him names... (All of these were done almost entirely by Lovina), and he would never retaliate with anything but a smile.

He was perfectly unfazed by everything. Except when it came to Lovina.

If he thought that you were going to hurt the girl or try to do anything inappropriate to her, then you would see the side of Antonio that still gave Sadiq Adnan nightmares.

"Hey, guys. Look over there. Aren't those the two freaks from yesterday?"

Antonio and Francis were both interrupted from their respective girl-watching by the sudden remark from Gillian. And they both whirled around almost in tandem to see those two 'freaks' walking down the beach.

Francis seriously thought that he heard Antonio growl at the sight of them.

Of course, he felt like doing the same thing. He just didn't.

The two boys that had gotten so thoroughly on his, Ludwig's, and Antonio's bad sides yesterday were right now strutting down the beach, dressed in swim trunks and looking as if they thought they were the hottest things to ever step foot on this sand. The blond—Drew, he seemed to remember his name being—winked at Ivan's sister as he walked by, earning a rather irritated glare from the Russian who had been watching his sister as she played.

Francis vaguely wondered if these guys were suicidal or something. Or were they really just that stupid?

They were walking toward the dock right now, Drew speeding up slightly as they seemed to notice Lovina standing at the end. This time Francis definitely heard Antonio growl...

And he was on his feet; hands fisted at his sides as he watched the two teenagers climb up onto the dock and begin to walk toward Lovina, who was still engaged in her argument/conversation with the person in the water. Probably her sister or somebody like that.

"What're they doing?" Gill suddenly questioned, standing up so she could see at least slightly better. "Why are they going over to talk to Lovi, Tonio?"

Antonio ignored her, too wrapped up in his own mutterings that sounded like highly specific death threats.

Francis answered instead, "Gilly, we're going to go over and beat the shit out of those guys. You stay here with Mattie, all right?"

"Hey! Why do I have to stay here?"

He had to think of something relatively quick now. Before Gillian decided that she was coming and Antonio ran off on his own to murder the two. "Because you've got to protect Mattie. Have you seen how that one guy over there has been looking at her?" He pointed toward a random guy sitting a little farther on the beach.

"What?!" Gillian was relatively easy to distract if you knew how to go about it. Right now she'd jumped up and was glaring at the guy. Who was actually just sitting there and reading a book. "Ooh, that bastard is gonna get it! Mattie's mine, asshole!!"

Francis should probably apologize to the guy later. After making sure that Antonio didn't get caught drowning anyone.

The two boys had reached Lovina by this point and were now attempting to flirt with her by invading her personal space. One attempted to put an arm around her shoulder.

She was predictably responding by standing there with her hands on her hips, yelling at them. Probably with language that a girl like her really shouldn't know, going off of personal experience and the fact that all of the people that had been swimming near the dock had moved rather far away.

Francis followed Antonio as he walked down the beach toward the dock, eyes flashing in utter fury. Continuing to mutter to himself, now in rapid Spanish.

And then both of them froze in surprise for a moment. As Drew suddenly grabbed Lovina's wrist rather violently and tugged her toward him.

And Antonio was off, now running toward the dock at a dead sprint that forced people to jump out of the way if they didn't want to get run over. "Get your hands off of her, bastard!"

Francis was definitely not the perfect example of a totally moral human being, particularly when it came to dating and flirting, but even he had never stooped so low as to physically grab a girl that didn't want to be grabbed. And she was struggling too, and from her expression it was quite obvious that she was in pain.

The two friends were close enough now that he could sort of hear what was going on; this was made easier since everybody had quieted when they noticed what was happening. Arthur, who had been standing in the shallow end of the swimming area with Ally, now started to move to leave the water. "Let go of her, you two..."

And then they did something that made Francis second-guess whether he'd stop Antonio from killing them. Hell, maybe he'd help...

The black-haired boy—Rick—grabbed her free wrist and twisted her around to face him; ignoring her cry of pain as her other wrist was suddenly forced into an unnatural angle. And then his free hand gripped at her hair, pulling hard enough to make her yelp again, and tugged her down into a forceful kiss.

Francis was pretty sure that he'd never seen so many people move at such a fast rate toward a single area. Antonio was cursing in rage as he ran toward her, although he hadn't yet reached the dock as he was fighting through the crowd that had surrounded the incident.

Arthur had almost reached them by this point, his own posture showing that he was quite ready to kill them both. Feliciana was yelling at them from the water, ordering him to "Let go of my sister!" Even Ludwig was just beginning to climb up onto the dock, eyes flashing in intense anger.

"Let go of me!! You're going to break my wrist, bastards!!"

"Fine, we'll let go of you," Rick finally remarked, eyeing the crowd of incredibly angry figures walking toward them warily. "Here!"

And, before anyone could react, he'd shoved her—hard—off of the pier and into the water on the boating side of the dock.

The next few seconds were a mess of sudden sounds and movements. Francis was aware of a cry of fury and panic from Antonio and he knew that he sped up to reach the dock before his friend could do something rash.

There were two extra splashes suddenly, and then running toward him. He reached out with one arm, but the figures—a blond and a badly-dyed brunet—managed to duck around him...

And then he finally could hear the sound of his sneakers pounding against wood and he was aware of Antonio kneeling on the side of the dock, staring down into the water with a panicked expression.

Francis knelt beside him, searching the murky water with his own eyes. He could see movement, faint movement...

It must have only been a few seconds, but it felt like hours before the movements began to noticeably increase and he could see figures rapidly moving toward the surface.

And then three heads suddenly exploded from the water. Two blond, one brunette.

"We found her." Arthur reached up to the side of the dock, Francis leaning over to catch his wrists without thought, tugging the smaller body up onto the wooden planks. "I think she hit her head on something, though. She's unconscious."

Antonio was on his feet again, staring at the limp body that was now being cradled in Ludwig's arms. Unable to speak. The German male remained silent as well, just started to swim toward the shore, standing up once he was in shallower water.

Feliciana was already standing there, staring at her older sister in terror, tears soaking her cheeks as she ran forward and enclosed both of them in a massive hug. Sobs tearing through the air...

Antonio reached them next. Joining the German and reaching out to take the girl from him. Ludwig released her without a word, his arms now wrapping around Feliciana, hugging her against his chest as she sobbed and clung to him. Antonio cradled Lovina's body in his arms, murmuring to her in Spanish, rocking her gently as if she were a baby that he was trying to soothe to sleep.

"Those fucking bastards..." Arthur was on his feet again, ignoring Francis's presence—not that Francis was really paying attention to him either. "Where do they live? I'm going to report them to the authorities. They could have seriously hurt her..."

"Francis?" He was interrupted from his rant by Antonio's voice, which was now very soft, having lost much of its fury out of sheer worry over the silent girl in his arms. "Francis, she's bleeding...And she isn't moving..." He had carried her by this point out of the water and was now standing on the sand as if completely lost, his emerald green eyes dimmed as he stared down at her.

Ally and Kiku both stepped forward at this remark, Ally moving to rest a hand on his shoulder and then brush a strand of Lovina's hair out of the way to reveal a rather large wound that was sluggishly oozing blood.

Kiku leaned closer, eyes narrowing as he stared at the wound. "She should be all right, Antonio-san. It doesn't look very deep. But we should take her to the infirmary immediately..." He glanced toward Francis, who was staring at his friend, unsure what he should do. "Francis-san, could you help?"

"I'll help too," Ally hurriedly added, her hand still on Antonio's shoulder, as if she were worried that he might fall over or break to pieces or do something else rash if she let go of him.

Francis started to move toward the beach, vaguely noticing that Arthur was following him. Not that he cared, really, although usually he would. As his thoughts were, at the moment, focused on only two things. Firstly, praying that Lovina would be okay. And secondly, plotting revenge on those two boys. They were going to pay. And they'd better be praying that nothing serious happened to Lovina as well, because if anything did...

If anything serious had happened to Lovina, Francis wouldn't bother to stop Antonio when he moved to avenge her. He'd let those assholes get exactly what was coming to them.

* * *

A/N: And here brings more of the drama. ...And I can't remember the last time I created a character I hate as much as I hate these two. Gah...

In other news, we have fanart for this story! I actually received it a while ago, but forgot to mention it in a chapter... Sorry :( Anyway, so go check it out!!


	7. Chapter 7: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 7**

Ally felt like a failure. A complete failure. She was supposed to be the hero, right? It's what she told people all the time. "I'm the hero!"

She kicked a stone out of her path as she felt her eyes begin to prickle with tears.

Some hero. An opportunity finally arises where she can show that she's a real hero. Where she can _finally _do something that would have made her dad proud of her...

And she freezes up completely.

She and Arthur had been arguing, like usual. Sometimes she wondered why Arthur even bothered to spend time with her; all they ever did was fight and insult each other. You'd think he'd have gotten tired of her by now...

She hadn't even noticed that anything was happening on the dock at first; she was too wrapped up in the insults that she was throwing at him—she couldn't even remember what their fight had been about right now, something totally unimportant probably. She hadn't noticed that anything was wrong until Arthur suddenly stopped talking mid-word and started moving toward the dock.

Even then, it had taken her a few seconds to notice that two guys were standing beside Lovina, attempting to do something...It was hard to tell exactly what from her angle. She hadn't even realized that they were doing something inappropriate until one of them suddenly dragged the smaller Italian girl forward and forcibly kissed her.

Ally had been so shocked by the sudden action that she hadn't even been able to move, although everyone around her was. Arthur was stomping toward the two boys, looking rather homicidal; Antonio had been running toward them with Francis following, Feliciana and Lovina had both been yelling at the boys...

And then the jerks had decided to push Lovina right into the water...

Ally kicked another stone out of her path as she glared up toward the girls' cabins. Why was her cabin so far away? She should be back in the infirmary waiting for the ambulance with everyone else; not walking up to the cabin to try to find Gillian so she would know what was going on. She was supposed to be the hero. She wasn't supposed to feel so helpless and useless and like she was in the way.

But she had been in the way. She'd frozen when she saw Lovina fall in. Ludwig and Arthur had been the ones to jump in and save her.

Some hero...

She shivered as a gust of wind suddenly blew by. Damn it, she was freezing. She hadn't thought to grab her towel before she started heading toward the cabins, so right now she was only dressed in her red, white, and blue-striped bikini. She fought back another shudder. All she wanted right now was to get dressed in a pair of her old, comfy blue jeans and her bomber jacket... No, all she really wanted to do was snuggle into the jacket and imagine that she was a little girl again, sitting on her daddy's lap and listening to his stories about heroic adventures.

He'd be completely disappointed in her if he knew about this. She was supposed to be a hero. She'd told him that she was going to protect people, just like him, someday. And she definitely had to do it...now that he was gone.

Because...maybe someday he'd come back... And if he did, she wanted him to be proud of everything that she'd done while he was gone.

She'd reached the cabin while she was thinking about all of this and was about to barge right in to get her jacket...when she suddenly hesitated.

She could hear voices from inside. Familiar voices...

For a moment, Ally wasn't sure what to do. It would be rude to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation, but at the same time, she felt the overwhelming urge to do so.

And then she recognized the voices. Mattie...Mattie and Gillian.

All thoughts of this being wrong immediately flew away, as she immediately bent down and pressed her ear against the small crack between the door and frame. Where the door didn't quite fit in its place. Their voices were low, but if she listened closely enough, she could make out what they were saying.

"Gill, you really shouldn't have done that..."

"Francis said that guy was staring at you, Mattie. I had to teach him a lesson."

Mattie sighed in what sounded like exasperation. "Fine, but you could have let up on him when he said that he _wasn't_ checking me out. The poor guy probably thought you were absolutely insane."

"Why in the world _wouldn't _he check you out? The guy's obviously blind if he can't see how gorgeous you are."

There was a soft laugh from inside. Ally pressed her ear closer to the crack. What was going on? Why was that freaky albino saying stuff like that to her _sister_?

"Gill, you're absolutely ridiculous."

"You still love me, though."

What the hell was going on? Ally was attempting—and failing—to get closer to the source of the sound. Why were these doors so damn thick?

Mattie laughed again. "I can't imagine why."

"Aw, Mattie, you're so mean! It's because I'm awesome, right?"

"Or maybe I'm just attracted to girls with huge egos."

"Mm," Gill murmured softly, as if she couldn't really argue with that, and then Ally suddenly heard her tone change slightly. To something much less innocent. "Hey, Mattie... You do realize that we're all alone right now."

Ally held her breath at this. She should burst in. She really should. Right now. It sounded like—like Gill was trying to _seduce _her sister...

But she couldn't move. She was too shocked. Since when was Gillian a dyke? She didn't _look _like a lesbian... At least, not the lesbians that Ally had seen on TV and stuff...

Mattie would push her away, anyway. Mattie definitely wasn't like that. She'd get all disgusted and start yelling at her... Any minute now...

"Somebody could come in, Gill."

"Come on, they're all still down at the beach. I seriously doubt that anyone will be coming up here anytime soon." The bunk bed creaked, alerting Ally to the fact that somebody must have moved. "If you don't want to, though, that's fine. I wouldn't want to force you..."

Ally shook her head furiously. Yeah, you tell that albino freak that you _definitely_ don't want any of that.

"It—it's not that I don't want to..."

Ally almost shrieked at that, although she managed to catch herself just in time. WHAT? Her little sister...Mattie could not be thinking about... She couldn't... She was her innocent little sister who still slept with a stuffed animal and cried at sappy movies and... No! She couldn't be dating that albino freak! She'd thought it was bad enough when she thought they were just _friends_!

"You've never done it before, have you?"

"No..."

And her little sister _definitely _shouldn't be losing her virginity before her! She was the older sister! She'd never even _made out_ with a guy yet.

"You don't have to be scared, okay?"

"I'm not scared..."

"Good... You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah."

And then there was silence for a few seconds. During which Ally sat on the ground and tried not to imagine what was going on in there. What should she do? Should she go in? Mattie would probably hate her forever if she did. But if she _didn't_, then that evil albino freak would...would...

She couldn't let anything happen to her baby sister! She jumped up, glaring at the door standing between her and her innocent little Mattie. She was still the hero, even if she hadn't been able to save Lovina earlier. She had to keep her Mattie safe from everything—including sexual predators like that Gillian Beilschmidt.

So she brought her foot back...And kicked the door as hard as she could.

Ally had always been exceptionally strong—even stronger than most guys that she knew. So it didn't take much more than that to break the door in.

The room was dark, but not dark enough to hide the two figures that were currently sitting on Mattie's bed. One of whom squeaked in shock at the sudden explosion and turned, violet eyes widening in horror at seeing her sister standing in the doorway.

"A—Al—what—this isn't what—"

Ally's eyes were immediately drawn to the space between them. Where one of Gill's hands was resting on her sister's leg. The other against her chest, pale fingers twisted around the tie holding her bikini top together. As if she was just about to pull it apart...

Ally was actually surprised by her reaction. She felt angry, yeah. But she didn't feel disgusted by the fact that she'd just found out that her sister was dating another girl. No, she felt more...hurt. Hurt that her sister hadn't told her about this... They had always been so close. Why wouldn't Mattie tell her about something like this?

She took a step forward, the words spilling from her lips. "How could you? Why didn't you—?" And then she bit back a choked sob and she glared at the surprised albino girl. "You. Get out of here before I fucking break your jaw."

Gillian visibly bristled at this, looking as if she were ready to take her up on the threat, but suddenly Mattie set her hand on the other girl's arm. Effectively stopping her. "Gill, please. Just go. I'll be okay."

For a moment, it looked as if the German girl were about to argue. But then her gaze softened and she nodded once, sliding her hand into Mattie's and squeezing it quickly before jumping up and walking out of the door. Leaving the two sisters alone to stare at each other, an expression of guilt meeting one of betrayal.

"I'm sorry, Ally. I really am..."

"Save it." Ally couldn't deal with this. She really couldn't. She needed air. She needed to get away from here.

So she turned, starting to head out the door. But hesitated... And then walked over to her bed and grabbed the bomber jacket that was resting on her pillow. "Just...stay away from me. I don't want to see you."

And she walked out of the door, refusing to turn and see the tears begin to stream down her sister's cheeks.

* * *

A/N: ...And they finally got caught.

Wow, this was a really hard chapter to write. Lots of emotions going on here...

For those who haven't read "No Accounting for Taste", the whole thing with Ally's dad is that he used to be a pilot. He gave the bomber jacket to her before he went out on a mission, during which his plane was shot down and he disappeared. They never found his body, so technically they aren't sure if he's dead or not. It's been like 10 years, though, so they're pretty sure he is... Still, Ally still likes to believe that he might still be alive and come back.

In other news, I've gotten fanart again. Technically for "Awesome Night" but I figured I'd put it here, since Awesome Night was only a one-shot. Go check it out.

Also, I've put up links to my livejournal and deviantart account on my profile in case anyone wants to check them out. Comment on anything you'd like or message me or add me as a friend or whatever. I love talking to you guys. ;)


	8. Chapter 8: Antonio

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 8**

Antonio had always hated hospitals.

He hated everything about them. The smell. How nurses would bustle around, completely ignoring you as they moved from patient to patient. How trapped and lonely and empty it felt...

This had been quite possibly the longest night of his life. A vague memory of terror and worry and people trying to keep him calm, sitting him in uncomfortable chairs where he waited for any news of Lovi. It was hard to remember much of what had happened.

He had been sitting in the infirmary with the others, waiting for the ambulance, he knew. Ally had helped lead him there and then she'd left. Francis had sat beside him, his hand resting on Antonio's shoulder for the entire time. Arthur had been leaning against the wall, talking. Antonio had no idea what he had been saying, but he remembered that the sound had been rather soothing—helped him relax. Mr. Roma had walked in at some point, instantly setting upon the nurse with a flurry of questions. Antonio hadn't been able to listen. All he could do was sit there and squeeze Lovi's hand, praying that she would wake up. Praying that she would be okay.

Then the paramedics had come in. There'd been a whirl of incomprehensible words...arguing, maybe. And eventually Mr. Roma had led him into the ambulance, letting him sit beside his silent granddaughter, holding her hand throughout the entire ride to the hospital.

He'd caught a few words while in the vehicle. Words like 'concussion', 'mild traumatic brain injury', 'comatose', 'amnesia'. They hadn't registered in his mind, as he just stared at her, moving once to brush a curl behind her ear.

And then they'd arrived at the hospital and she'd been taken away. Mr. Roma had gone with her, but they'd told him to sit in the waiting room. Until they had news.

So he'd sat. Sat and waited and fell in and out of a sort of half-sleep.

Until he was suddenly shaken awake by a figure leaning over him. A figure that gradually took the shape of Mr. Roma.

The principal offered him a weary smile once he'd woken enough to pull himself upright from the slump he'd been in for most of his wait. And then he remarked, "She's awake. Finally. She was asking for you."

Antonio immediately jumped to his feet, unable to speak at the news... Thank God. "She—how is she?"

"The nurses say that they don't think there'll be any permanent damage. She's a little confused; can't remember what happened this morning. Other than that, she seems okay." He smiled slightly and then gave the teenager a push towards the room. "Now go in and see her." He smirked slightly as he glanced toward a nurse that was standing nearby. "I'll be back in there in a little while."

Antonio didn't have to be told twice. He immediately hurried to the room, hesitating for a moment in front of the open door before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

She was lying on the bed, staring up at the television that hung from the ceiling in the opposite corner of the room. Her head was bandaged, but other than that, she looked fine... For a moment, Antonio just stared at her, relief passing over him at seeing her scowling at the television. That was his Lovi...

"Hey." She jumped slightly at the sudden remark, turning her head. Maybe a little too fast, as she winced. But then he caught a flicker of relief pass over her face for a moment. Just a moment.

Before she remarked, almost accusingly, "Grandpa said you've been waiting here for me to wake up."

Antonio smiled slightly at the irritated tone that her voice held. Yep, this was definitely his Lovi. He moved closer to the bed, dropping into the seat beside it and leaning over to rest his elbows on the edge. "Of course, Lovi! I had to make sure that you were all right!"

She rolled her eyes, but didn't move to push him away. Which he took as a good sign. "Idiot. He also said that I hit my head on a rock... Said I fell off the dock or something?"

Something in Antonio started to boil at those words. Oh, sure. Fell off. Was thrown off... And one of those bastards had dared to kiss _his _Lovi. And they could have hurt her. They could have killed her. His hands moved slightly to clench at the sheets. He had to keep himself calm, had to keep his face from betraying his inner emotions...

He was going to kill those boys. He was going to find them and kill them for hurting his precious Lovi.

He managed to keep his expression completely relaxed, however, just smiling as he reached out to gently brush a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Yeah. So, how do you feel?"

He received a smack on the arm for that remark, albeit lighter than the ones he usually received from her. "Idiot. How do you think I feel? I bashed my head into a fucking rock."

He grinned in response. "Ah, but at least you're acting just like your usual self."

And now he was rewarded by a blush that crossed over her cheeks as she drew her hand back slightly. So cute. She pouted then and huffed, turning her head away. "Hmm, I didn't need you to stay. I'm perfectly fine. Besides, Grandpa was just in here..."

"He said you were calling for me when you woke up."

Lovi was so incredibly _cute_ when she blushed. She turned the exact shade of a tomato! He laughed and leaned closer, "You look just like a tomato, Lovi!"

And now he received a real smack against his arm.

"Stupid idiot bastard! Why would I ever call for _you_? I was probably having a nightmare or something. Idiot." Now she was really pouting, her arms crossed over her chest as she glared out of the window on the opposite side of the room. He couldn't imagine what she could find interesting out there, since it just looked out on a brick wall.

"I'm so happy that you're all right, Lovi," he suddenly remarked as he leaned in closer, the hand that had brushed her hair away moving down to stroke her cheek. She turned at this, their eyes meeting as her flush darkened. "I wouldn't know what to do without you."

Lovina opened her mouth to speak, probably in an attempt to insult him...But then she stopped and, slowly moved her hand up to press against his. "Y—yeah..."

"I love you, Lovi." He moved even closer, his free hand supporting his weight as he leaned over the bed. "I was so scared... Dios, I was terrified that I was going to lose you, querida."

"Idiot." She still didn't move to remove his hand. Instead, she moved her face so her lips brushed against his palm. He shivered slightly at the movement, his free fingers gripping even more tightly at the sheets. "Fucking mushy crap..."

He laughed at the remark, now moving out of his seat and sitting on the edge of her bed, eyes intent on the blushing girl in front of him. "Te amo, mi tomatita."

Her expression turned into a glare. "Don't call me a fucking tomato! And I know enough Spanish to know at least _that_! Fucking bastard, idiot..." But she still hadn't released his hand yet. Antonio smiled, rubbing his thumb against her cheekbone, not missing how her eyelids dropped and she leaned into the touch.

It amused him how his little tomato's actions never matched her words. It was one of her most adorable traits.

Now he allowed his eyes to roam across her face, resting on her lips for a moment. Full, soft lips. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to kiss her... But then again, it might hurt her...

So he moved on, his eyes now moving to the hand that was resting on top of his. Their fingers meshed together perfectly. Like puzzle pieces... And on one of her fingers was an emerald ring.

He smiled happily as he stared at the ring. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her finger without it since he'd given it to her on the day she agreed to be his girlfriend. She didn't draw attention to the band, but it was always there...

At the moment, he couldn't draw his eyes away from it. It looked so perfect against her tanned skin. A perfect symbol of how much he adored her... And since she chose to continue wearing it, of how she returned the feelings.

And then he suddenly hesitated, his eyes still fixed on the ring. His mind suddenly racing as he stared at it...

A symbol. That's what it was...

"Antonio?" He was brought out of his thoughts by her voice, tinged with curiosity as to what in the world had kept him quiet for so long. Antonio immediately forced a grin, noting the sceptical look she was now flashing him.

"Lovi, I'm probably going to do something that you'll punch me for later, but for now please wait?"

She blinked in surprise at the remark, staring at him as if he'd suddenly grown another head. "Huh?"

He slid his hand out from under hers, taking her now-free palm into his before she could draw it away. "Just don't say anything yet, all right?"

"Wh—what?"

He supposed he'd take that as an affirmative answer. He held her hand for a moment, enjoying how small and soft it was in comparison to his own. Not as soft as the hands of a lot of other girls, probably. Since she would often spend days outside with him, working in his gardens and picking tomatoes—not because she wanted to help him, she'd say; just because she couldn't trust him to only pick the _best _ones.

He moved now to the small band and slowly began to move to slide it off. Startling her into clenching her hand into a fist.

"What are you doing, idiot? You gave that to me! Or don't you remember?"

"I just want to borrow it for a minute, okay?"

She now glared at him, obviously suspicious. And seemingly a little possessive over the object. But then she relaxed her hand again. "Fine, bastard."

He removed it from her finger now, staring at the band for a long moment. It was almost as shiny now as it had been when he first bought it. Obviously, she'd been taking very good care of it.

He could still remember that day quite clearly, when he'd gone with Francis to the jewellery store at a rather ridiculous time in the morning and spent almost three hours looking for the perfect ring. Which he was still technically paying off. Francis had offered to just buy it for him; he had plenty of money, after all. But Antonio had been determined that _he _was going to be the one paying for the symbol of his love for his Lovi. And it hadn't really taken too much extra work. He'd taken some of the money he'd been saving for his car, found some extra jobs, and worked more hours... It was almost completely paid for by this point.

He glanced back up at Lovina now, noticing her expression, which held a mixture of confusion and—not as noticeable, but still there—worry. Antonio offered her a smile, using his shirt to at least pretend to polish the ring. Not that it needed it.

She shouldn't look so scared. She looked as if she thought he was going to take it away from her. Suddenly say that he didn't want her to be his girlfriend anymore.

As if that would ever happen...

"Promise you won't punch me until I finish, okay?"

"What the hell are you doing, you idi—"

And he managed to startle her into silence. As he suddenly slid off of the bed and knelt down on the floor, his eyes fixated on her startled expression as he took a deep breath.

"Lovina Romana Vargas, will you marry me?"

* * *

A/N: And insert cliffhanger... and mood whiplash after last chapter

...So this chapter was one of those 'let the characters do what they want' chapters, as I totally wasn't expecting any of this to happen when I was doing my generic mental planning. I _especially _wasn't expecting a proposal... *shrugs* I gave up on controlling my characters a long time ago.

And here is my general disclaimer that I've never had a concussion *knock on wood*. I looked up as much information as I could with the limited time I had and asked my dad (who's a nurse) about them, but obviously I'm not an expert in any sense of the word. So if I got anything wrong, I apologize... I think I have the basic gist, though of what are common effects, symptoms, etc. I made her effects on the less serious side, because...it works better with the story and doesn't require me to have as much advanced knowledge on the subject.


	9. Chapter 9: Feliciana

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 9**

They hadn't let her go to the hospital.

Both Ludwig and her grandfather had said that she should stay here and just wait—wait for the phone call that would tell her if her sister was okay. The phone call that hadn't come yet, even though it _should_ have come. At least in her mind it should have come. It wouldn't take that long for her sister to wake up, right? What if she hadn't, though? What if she never woke up?

And she was suddenly startled out of her thoughts by a warm hand gently pushing something into her hand. Her fingers automatically clenched around it, feeling warmth slowly begin to seep into her fingertips as she breathed in the rather familiar scent of tea.

"Drink it, Feli. It'll make you feel better."

She glanced up at the remark, meeting Arthur's concerned eyes. She'd almost forgotten that he was even here... Feliciana attempted to force a smile for him. "But I don't like tea."

He rolled his eyes at the statement, motioning toward the tea cup that she was holding between her hands. "Just drink it. You're shivering; you should drink something warm."

Feliciana frowned slightly, glancing down at the light brown liquid, before she finally nodded and took a sip. Almost choking at the unfamiliar taste.

Arthur watched her for a moment; expression slightly worried, and then turned to the rest of the cabin's occupants. Kiku, who had been sitting next to Heracles on his bed, stood up at the look and walked over to sit beside Feliciana on Antonio's bed. "Ah, Feliciana-san... You shouldn't worry. I'm sure that Lovina-san will be fine."

She smiled up at him, taking another sip of the warm beverage as she looked over the room's occupants. Francis was leaning against one of the beds, frowning to himself as if deep in thought; Arthur was heating up more water in the electric kettle he brought with him pretty much everywhere—she wondered for a moment how it had fit in his little suitcase; Heracles was still sitting on the bed, his eyes intent on Kiku. And Kiku blushed slightly when he noticed the gaze on him.

If only Lovina was here. She missed her sister. If her sister were here, she'd be sitting beside her, complaining about the 'leaf-water' and telling her about how much of an idiot Antonio was, while blushing in a way that made it obvious that she didn't mean a word she said.

Feliciana really wished that Lovina wouldn't be so mean to poor Antonio. He was so nice! He'd make them churros and teach them how to do dances like the Tarantella. And he was like a perfect big brother!

She was suddenly startled from this train of thought, however, when the front door suddenly slammed open, just managing to miss hitting Francis in the face by a couple of centimetres.

Feliciana immediately sat up straighter when she realized who it was. Gillian and Ludwig. A very irritated Gillian and a very confused Ludwig...

"Ludwig!" Feliciana chose to ignore the murderous glare that Gillian flashed everyone in favour of running up to the taller German. "Did Grandpa call yet? Is Lovi okay?"

He shook his head distractedly, most of his attention captured by his furious sibling. "Gill, I don't understand what's—"

"That Allison Jones! She's a fucking bitch!" The albino girl whirled around, flashing her brother a furious glare that scared Feliciana into clutching onto his arm and hiding behind him.

Scary! Why was Gillian being scary? Although she did feel a lot safer when she was holding onto Ludwig. He was so big and strong and she knew that he could protect her from absolutely anything. Including a scary Gillian.

Who now spun around and climbed up onto Arthur's bunk, placing her muddy combat boots on the mattress amidst protests from the bed's rightful owner. She just flashed him a glare in response that actually worked to quiet him.

Feliciana had hardly ever seen Gillian angry like this before. Not since one of the boys in middle school had called Francis a not-nice word that Ludwig refused to repeat for her. Gillian had been _really _angry then, and ended up getting another week of detention added onto the five weeks she already had, when she punched him in the face and broke his nose.

It was the first time that Ludwig didn't scold her for getting a detention, actually.

"What happened with Al?" Arthur moved slightly closer to the irritated girl, although far enough away that she couldn't kick or punch him if she felt so inclined. "She was supposed to go up and get you so we could tell you about—"

"She found out about me and Mattie."

Francis hissed in slightly at this, the only one in the room who actually knew what she meant by that. And who also could guess what sort of reaction Ally would have to finding out about the relationship...

Arthur just blinked in confusion. "What about you and Mattie?"

Gillian rolled over onto her stomach, kicking her feet up in the air so her soles almost touched the ceiling. "Mattie and I are dating."

For a moment, there was complete silence in the room. Feliciana could feel Ludwig stiffen in shock, his jaw dropping as he just _stared _at his sister in amazement. Arthur blinked once, obviously rather surprised, although not as much as Ludwig. Kiku froze as well, staring at her for a moment in obvious shock. Heracles was asleep.

Arthur was the first to actually react. As he shook his head slightly and finished making his tea, taking a sip before remarking, "I guess that explains some things."

"Was?" And Ludwig was the next to react. "You—but—I—"

"Mattie wanted to keep it a secret, but since that idiot Jones knows, I don't see the point in not telling everybody. Yes, Mattie and I are going out. Have been since the end of March. Mattie didn't want her sister to find out, but she ended up walking in on us when we were about to—"

"You and Mattie? But—but—" Feliciana found it vaguely amusing how Ludwig was stuttering like a motorboat. "But you're both _girls_..."

Gillian's eyes narrowed slightly at the statement. "Yeah, your point?"

And the Italian girl was pretty sure that things would have gotten a lot scarier if they hadn't suddenly been interrupted by...

"_Pasta, pasta. I love pasta! It's a wonderful food..."_

Every eye instantly turned to her. Most expressions either expressing amusement or sending her a 'you have got to be kidding me' look.

"Ve~ that's my phone! Ve~!" Now where was her phone... Did she have it? She must have it. She heard it. Oh, no! What if she'd dropped it somewhere and she'd miss this call and what if it was from her grandpa and...

Ludwig sighed, as he recognized the completely overwhelmed expression that crossed the younger girl's face. And walked over to the dresser where a small pink phone was vibrating like crazy, picking it up and answering with a "Ja?"

Feliciana was pretty sure that those next few minutes were the longest of her life. Every single eye in the room was fixated on Ludwig. No one moved or spoke or did anything except stare... And Ludwig wasn't helping anything, as his expression didn't change at all...

Was Lovina okay? What if she was dead and he was trying not to show it? She could feel tears already start welling in her eyes...

"Ja... Ja... Nein... Nein... Ja, she's fine... Ja... All right. Danke..."

He barely had time to hang up before he was tackled by an already sobbing Feliciana, who immediately clung to his shirt and stared up at him with huge, frightened, teary eyes. "Is she dead? Was that Grandpa? I don't wanna be an only child!"

Ludwig just stared at her, his own expression now obviously overwhelmed by the fact that he had a hysterical, sobbing girl clinging to him. "Ah, Feli, don't cry! She's fine. She's awake."

There was an immediate sigh of relief from the rest of room's occupants. Except for Heracles, who was still asleep. "Antonio's in with her now... Your grandpa apparently forgot to call you when she first woke up because he was distracted by one of the nurses..."

She stared up at him, her expression now switching from heartbroken to hopeful. "Ve~? Grandpa does like pretty nurses..."

"They're going to keep her in the hospital for the rest of the day, but he said that they think she should be able to come back sometime tomorrow. I guess they said that she could stay here instead of going home, since your grandfather can watch her and make sure she doesn't do anything too strenuous..."

"Ve~ that's great!" And now she was all smiles again, staring up at Ludwig with blatant adoration, before she nuzzled her nose against his chest. Not noticing the blush that immediately spread across his cheeks... Earning a smirk from Francis. "Grazie, Ludwig."

"Uh..." He was turning beet red. Like one of Antonio's tomatoes...Now attempting to push her off without her noticing.

"You saved my big sister! You and Arthur!" She turned now, releasing him (to his relief) to run over to Arthur and give _him _a huge hug too. "Grazie!"

Arthur blinked for a moment, then smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "You're welcome, Feli."

She jumped back, smiling happily. "We should celebrate, ve~! And I should make Lovina something for when she comes back. Maybe if I ask the nice ladies in the kitchen, they'll let me make pasta!" She didn't wait for a response, already turning and racing outside and toward the dining hall.

Her sister was okay! Her sister was okay and she was going to make her the best dinner of pasta _ever_!

* * *

A/N: ...Filler again. Sigh. Oh well. So interestingly enough, I feel like Feli is one of the hardest characters to write in the POV of. Especially when she's being all sad in the beginning.

But I'm now done with my first cycle of point of views, yay! ;D The ones that I've done will probably be the only ones I'll use, although it is possible that a minor character might sneak in at one point or another... (Probable, actually, since I have a pretty good idea for a much later chapter that would be in the point of view of a minor character). So yeah...

Over 100 reviews on this story! I'm so happy! Especially since it's a gender!flip, I wasn't expecting that many! *hugs for everyone!*


	10. Chapter 10: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 10**

Ally was a pretty predictable girl when you came right down to it, particularly when she was upset... Arthur knew exactly where she would be right now. As far away from everyone else as she could possibly be—this would mean that she was probably in the middle of the woods. Probably sitting on a stump or rock or something and bawling her eyes out.

He sighed as he pushed at a bush, wincing as a branch—thorn branch—that he hadn't noticed scraped against his bare leg. Why was he doing this again? Oh, yes, because he was in love with probably the most troublesome girl on earth. Besides Gill, at least.

"Al? Al, where the bloody hell are yo—?" And then his forehead was introduced rather abruptly to a tree branch. "Ow...Fucking tree."

Honestly, he had no idea what he was going to say when he actually found her. He hated dealing with sibling relationships, since it wasn't like he had much experience with any sort of _good _family relationships... Not with _his _brothers (half brothers, technically), he sure didn't.

Still. The last thing he wanted was for Ally to be alone right now. Even if he had no idea what sort of advice he should be giving her.

"Al? Come on, I'm braving a fucking forest for you, the least you can do is answer me."

There was also another reason that he really hoped that he found her soon. Since he kind of hadn't really been paying too much attention to the directions he took and was now pretty sure that he had no idea how to get back.

Plus it was starting to get dark... And cold.

He mentally cursed himself for not thinking to wear a jacket. Honestly, he should've known that she'd be a pain to find.

What did you want to bet that she was back in her cabin right now and he was wandering around the woods for no good reason?

Although that idea was almost instantly dashed when he broke through a rather dense, massive pricker-bush and found himself in a small clearing... And in the middle of that clearing, sitting on a fallen tree, face buried in the collar of her bomber jacket, was a sniffling Ally.

Arthur immediately froze, his stomach twisting uncomfortably as he stared at her. He could hear her crying from here...and she was shivering, since she was still only dressed in her probably still-damp bikini and that jacket.

Shit. He had no idea what he was supposed to do right now. He'd always been awful at comforting people. Especially when that person happened to be the girl that he was rather madly in love with—the barely-dressed girl that he was madly in love with, just to make things even more awkward.

"Al?"

Her head jerked up, eyes widening in shock as she stared at him. Apparently she'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn't heard him calling for her. "Ah, ah—Artie... What—?" She wiped at her cheek with the back of her hand in an attempt to hide the evidence that she'd been crying. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to find you. Gill said that you guys had a fight."

She immediately tensed, making him think that this probably wasn't how he should've started this conversation. "It wasn't a _fight_. That...that...did you know about it?"

He assumed she meant the whole fact that her sister and Gill had apparently been dating for quite a while. For a moment he hesitated, then admitted, "Not really. I was starting to get a little suspicious, but I didn't know anything."

"So I'm the only one who had no idea that my sister was a dyke?"

Arthur winced at the rather harsh tone her voice had taken. This conversation was not going well. And he was absolutely freezing...and Ally probably was too. "No, I'm sure that no one else knew..." Besides Francis and Antonio. And probably Lovina... "You can't really blame Mattie too much for this, though, Al. I mean..." He hesitated and then sat down on the log beside her, attempting to think through what he wanted to say that wouldn't make her angrier. "I mean, not that I'm saying that she was right in keeping it from you, but—she's Mattie. She was probably trying to work up the nerve to tell you."

"I'm her sister, though! What? Did she think I'd hate her or something just because she's a lesbian...or bi or whatever she is? I don't care about that!"

"It's not something that's an easy thing to admit, Al." Arthur was really wishing somebody else was having this talk with her. Someone like Kiku. Kiku would be good at this sort of thing. "And...you've never really hidden the fact that you don't like Gill."

She pouted at this, pulling her jacket tighter around herself. "That's because I knew she was a pervert from the very beginning. Hanging out with Antonio and Francis all the time..."

Arthur felt his stomach clench again at those words. Yes... It was so easy to forget about those things when he was with her. So easy to forget why he had to keep his feelings for her under control. Because she didn't know about the things he'd done... She never _would _know about the things he'd done. "Gill isn't that bad, Al. Trust me, I grew up with her. Compared to some people, she was a regular angel."

Ally glanced up at him, her eyes plainly showing that she didn't believe him. "Then those people must have been absolute scum."

...Well, that had hurt a bit more than he thought it would. "...Yeah."

She sighed and suddenly leaned forward, resting her elbows on her bare legs in a completive pose. "So, what do you think I should do, Artie?"

And here he was supposed to give advice. Sibling advice, just to make it worse. "I'd say to give yourself some time before you talk to Mattie about this. Give yourself some time to come to grips with the idea. And don't do anything rash to Gill."

Ally pouted up at him at this... And she really shouldn't look so absolutely adorable when she did that. "But, Artie... Not even a little prank?"

"No." Gillian and _little prank _should never be put together in the same sentence. "You two would end up trying to kill each other by the end of the week. You're too similar in that respect."

And now Ally jumped up, hands on her hips, pout only increasing as she stared down at him. "I am _nothing _like that albino freak!"

He blinked...And then grinned slightly, amused by the affronted posture she'd taken up. "You and Gill are exactly alike, Al. Really, it's probably the reason you can't get along..."

"We are not!"

"You're both athletic, you like the same movies, you both come up with the most hare-brained schemes, you're both loud and obnoxious, you think much too highly of yourselves..." Now he was on more comfortable ground. This was the sort of conversation he was used to having with Ally.

"I am not like her at all! She's the evil villain and I'm the hero! Evil villains and heroes can never be the same!"

The more that he thought about it, the more that he realized that Gill and Ally really were incredibly similar. In bad and good ways... They were both ridiculously loyal to their family and friends, they were both rather popular with their peers. It really _would_ explain why they clashed so much.

"We're going back to the cabin!" And suddenly he was startled out of his thoughts when she grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet.

And his heart definitely did not speed up from her just touching him. At least, it better not have if it knew what was good for it.

"Do you even know the way out?"

She turned slightly, flashing him a grin—not quite as bright as her usual one, but it was getting there. "Of course I do, Artie. I won't let you get lost."

"I wasn't worried about me!" He noticed that she hadn't let go of his wrist yet. It would be nice if her hand would slip down a little bit...

No! No thinking that! He wasn't supposed to give in to those feel—

"Um, and Artie..."

He was startled (again, honestly, she never gave him a break) from his internal thoughts by her voice, much softer than he'd ever really heard her talk before. She was refusing to look at him, the hand that wasn't holding onto his wrist fisted deep in the pocket of her jacket. He blinked, staring at her in confusion.

"...Thanks. For coming to get me, I mean..."

Another blink. And he felt his cheeks begin to heat up. "Oh..." And now he was looking away. "It—it was nothing. I couldn't let you get lost or something. Knowing you, you'd be stuck in here forever, git..."

There was another moment of silence. And then he felt her hand shift slightly...And then inch down... Slowly...Centimetre by centimetre... Until their palms were touching, fingers lightly brushing against each other.

He didn't dare move. All he could do was stare off into the distance, all of his attention caught by the feel of her hand against his...

And then she slowly curled her fingers between his. And he curled his in response, without thinking.

And, before he could do anything, Ally suddenly turned toward him again, expression bright. "All right, so come on, slow poke!" And she was hurrying out of the clearing, along the path that he had made, tugging him along after her. Their fingers still intertwined...

Ally was not making it easy for Arthur to repress all his romantic feelings for her. Not easy at all.

* * *

A/N: ...Aw. I love Arthur ;D Although he needs to give up on his attempts to ignore his feelings.

So, I love how all of the couples in this story are at completely different levels in their relationships. It makes it more entertaining for me to write... (and hopefully for you to read).

And I feel for you, Artie with your getting-hit-by-a-tree-branch adventure. I got hit by a stupid branch while I was mowing the lawn today, since it wasn't as springy as it looked. It was rather painful...And I ended up scratching my eyelid in the process... Which feels really really weird, actually... And I've got a scratch on my forehead... Sigh. Stupid trees...


	11. Chapter 11: Lovina

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 11**

"What?"

It probably wasn't the way that most girls would respond to a marriage proposal, but most girls weren't proposed to while they were lying on a hospital bed, having just regained consciousness after almost having their bed bashed in with a rock. So give her a break if she was a little shocked...

All Lovina could do right now was stare at Antonio in disbelief, blinking frantically as she attempted to figure out what in the world had just happened. He couldn't really have just asked her to marry him. Maybe this was some delusion brought about by her accident. Maybe she wasn't really awake and was dreaming all of this. Or...or... Damn it. This sort of thing didn't really happen!

And it didn't help that he was still kneeling on the floor, staring up at her with a ridiculously hopeful expression. His eyes looked even greener than usual, the bastard.

"Lovi, I love you. I've loved you for years. So will you marry me?"

"Wh—I—you—" Great, she sounded like a complete idiot. A complete idiot who couldn't even speak English.

And Antonio was still staring at her, emerald eyes—those too-pretty emerald eyes that were _not _helping her gather her thoughts—intent on her face. "If you need time to think about it..."

Lovina sat up at this, wincing as a jolt of pain shot through her head. "You haven't even given me a fucking chance to answer, bastard!"

He winced slightly at her tone. And she definitely didn't feel bad about that! Of course not. The idiot needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut, after all.

...And now he was making her feel guilty, the bastard. She leaned back against her pillow after a few seconds, sighing as her gaze flickered over to the window. Why in the world did hospitals have rooms that only looked out at a brick wall? If you were gonna be stuck in a damned bed for days on end, they should give you _something _interesting to look at.

"You do realize that we're way too young to even be considering marriage?"

"Not technically." She could hear him move, and then the bed dipped down slightly as he settled his weight next to her. "I mean, we'd need to get permission from your parents and my madre. But we're old enough."

"We haven't even been dating that long..."

And he laughed softly, hand moving from her leg to rest on the sheet beside her. And finally Lovina turned her head to look into Antonio's face.

Why did he have to be so handsome? It really wasn't fair. It was hard for her to think of a good response when he was smiling at her like that...

"I've been in love with you for years, Lovi." He slid his free hand against her cheek, moving closer so his breath brushed against her lips. Lovina could feel her cheeks heat up nervously at his proximity. "I honestly can't even remember _when _it was that I fell in love with you. I feel like it's just been something that's always been there..."

Stupid idiot bastard that was way too close and completely ignoring her personal space and wasn't he going to kiss her or _something_? Not that she wanted him to kiss her, but what was he _waiting _for?

She started to lean forward, her own hands moving to grip onto his shirt...

But he suddenly was gone, standing beside the bed, brushing his pants off as if he expected them to be dusty or something.

Lovina just stared at the space that he'd just been taking up in shock. And then turned her head to glare at him. "What—What are you doing?"

Antonio just grinned at her and then knelt on the floor again, taking her hand in his and holding the ring out again. "I'm supposed to propose while down on one knee, right? So, Lovi, will you marry me?"

...Idiot. Complete and total idiot. "People are going to talk..."

"Let them. I don't care."

"We're still in high school!"

"We can wait until we've graduated, if you want. You won't even have to tell anyone until you want to." He tilted his head slightly to the side, looking up at her with pleading, hopeful eyes.

Damn it. He was cheating. This wasn't how she'd expected that she'd be proposed to—not that she'd ever thought about it. But for whatever reason, it was causing her chest to twist with some weird, light, fluttery feeling.

"I expect three meals a day. And a nap. And tomatoes whenever I want them."

And now he looked as if he'd just won the lottery. His smile was so bright that he could've lit up the room just with the force of his smile. "Of course, Lovi. I pretty much do that already. So, is that a yes?"

She sighed. He wasn't going to let her get out of this without a 'yes' or 'no' answer. "Fine, yes. You'd probably do something stupid like throw yourself off of the fucking building if I said no, anyway."

And now she suddenly found herself almost crushed against her pillows, since he'd thrown himself at her and was now showering her face with light kisses between joyful laughter. "Lovi! Lovi! Te amo! Te amo! Te amo!"

She pushed her hands against his chest, attempting to force him away. "Get off, bastard! We're in a fucking hospital!"

He ignored her. Of course. Not that she'd expected anything else... And she might be kissing him back... A little bit...

And then Antonio paused and she suddenly felt him lift her hand up so she could see as he slid her ring back onto her finger. Nestling it back where it belonged.

...Although now it was her engagement ring.

Her stomach twisted in terror as she stared at the little object. Engaged. What in the world was she thinking? She wasn't old enough to be engaged... She hadn't even graduated from high school yet. She already knew what people would say. What her _parents _would say...

Oh God. She felt like she was going to be sick at _that_ thought. Not that they'd care, but she could just imagine her mom now...

"Lovi..." Her eyes flickered in surprise, away from the ring and to Antonio's face. And she felt her nervousness die a little bit at the expression on his face. Pure, unadulterated love for her. He leaned close again, and this time slowly, gently, he brushed his lips against hers.

And she leaned in as well, fingers twisting in the fabric of his shirt. Her other hand moved to the nape of his neck, curling his hair around her fingers. Enjoying how soft the strands felt... She'd always liked his hair. It was curly and soft and nice to run your fingers through. Not that she was about to admit it! Stupid romantic mushy shit.

"I'll take care of you forever..." Antonio leaned slightly away from the kiss after what only felt like a few seconds and smiled at the pout that crossed over her face. "I'll love you and protect you and make you happy forever."

"You'd better." Her stomach was not doing flip-flops at his words. Or they'd better not be, because she was not going to be turned into a pile of mush by some romantic words in that soft, Spanish accent. No. No way. Not even after he kissed her like that. There was no way...

...Fuck, she already knew that she'd lost that battle. Especially when her body seemed to follow some other instructions and her arms wrapped around his neck, tugging him closer so she could press their lips together again.

And then she was suddenly pinned under his warm body, his body hovering over hers, which was pressed back against the hospital bed. One of his hands ran through her hair, fanning in across the pillow.

"You're beautiful."

Lovina snorted, ducking her head slightly so he wouldn't see the flush that immediately passed over her cheeks. "Bastard..."

"Te amo. Te quiero." And he leaned down to kiss her again...

Or he would have kissed her again, if it weren't for the fact that the door to her room was suddenly pushed open with a "Just need to check your—Oh! I'm so sorry!"

And the door was immediately slammed shut before either could react. Although Lovina's face did turn a rather interesting shade of red as she realized that they'd just been caught. And in what position they'd just been caught...

Antonio laughed, slightly nervously, "Well, it might be a bit difficult keeping this a secret from your grandfather."

She snorted. Great. He was just the person that she didn't want finding out. Her grandpa was absolutely horrible at keeping secrets. Which meant that Feliciana might find out something. And if Feliciana found out, the entire school would know by the end of the week.

"Oh well." And now he kissed the back of her hand, sending another flush up to join its brethren. How come _she _had to be the one who blushed all the time? It totally wasn't fair. "I don't care if anyone knows that you're my _fiancée_."

...Yeah, everybody was going to know by tomorrow morning. If not earlier.

* * *

A/N: Yay! You finally get your answer to the proposal!

Okay, for the marriage. I made their ages almost 17 (for Lovina) and 18 (for Antonio)... I honestly have no idea if this works with my other fics, since I didn't really think about ages for those *fail on the Authoress's part*. And, since I never said what state they live in, we're going with NY marriage laws. Because...it's my state ;P Mwahaha. And it's pretty standard with the rest of the states anyway. If you're under 18, you need parental permission from both sets of parents. If one parent is dead or missing, then one parent's permission will be accepted.

...And is it bad that I've pretty much already completely planned the next fic in this Nyo-verse? And the next one-shots, etc etc etc. (Apparently Nyo = gen!flipped in the Hetalia-verse? I was like...oooh, that's randomly cool)


	12. Chapter 12: Mattea

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 12**

Mattie hadn't wanted this to happen; she definitely hadn't meant to hurt her sister. She'd just been scared. Scared that her sister would hate her if she found out that she was in love with another girl. Terrified that she'd end up losing her best friend—because Ally really was her best friend, even if she often got on her nerves and hogged all of the attention and was usually loud and obnoxious...

She hadn't wanted to do anything that might ruin their relationship, so Mattie had kept putting it off. Putting off telling her sister about her and Gill, subconsciously hoping that she could just keep it hidden forever, even though she knew that Ally would find out sooner or later. Ally had to find out. It wasn't right to keep it from her. It wasn't right to force Gill to keep it a secret either...

She sniffled as she wiped at her itchy eyes with the back of her hand. Mattie had known that it was a mistake. It would have been better to tell her sister, instead of having her find out like...like that... Ally loved her. She wouldn't just abandon her just because she wasn't straight.

But now Ally had to hate her. There was no way that her sister would ever forgive her for this.

Mattie glanced around the still empty girls' cabin from the seat on her bunk, arms holding her legs against her chest as she settled her chin on top of her knees. Tears were still streaming silently down her cheeks, like they had been since Ally left, dripping onto her sheets like a never-ending shower.

What could she do? She had no idea how she could fix this. Break up with Gill? She couldn't do that; she wouldn't do that. Go beg Ally for forgiveness? She could try, but she knew Ally pretty well, and she was incredibly stubborn when it came to forgiving people.

This was all her fault. If she hadn't been such an idiot about this. If she'd just told All—

She was suddenly startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the door creaking open. Slowly. Slowly. She glanced up, subconsciously hugging her knees tighter as she stared at the door inching its way along the floorboards.

And then she was greeted by the sight of Natalya, silhouetted by the light shining outside, and holding a knife.

Okay, Mattie wasn't going to lie; she almost screamed at that. Which was justifiable, since the scene was like something out of one of those awful horror movies that Ally always watched, even though she was scared to death of them and would usually end up crawling into Mattie's bed afterwards. Thankfully, however, she managed to catch herself before she actually screeched. Sure Natalya was a nutcase, but she didn't think that she was actually _dangerous_. Maybe. Hopefully.

For a long moment, the two girls just stared at each other, Natalya's expression just as emotionless as usual, Mattie just hoping that the Belarusian girl wouldn't kill her if she kept from making any sudden moves.

And then the awkward moment was at least somewhat broken as Natalya walked inside the room and made her way to her bed, setting her knife on top of her pillow. Then she walked back over to the dresser and began to rifle through the top drawer in search of something.

...Well, she hadn't done anything yet. And Mattea wasn't one for being rude and ignoring someone who was in the room with her, even if that person happened to be Natalya. "H—hi—um—I didn't see you last night..."

Natalya immediately flashed a look over her shoulder that instantly silenced Mattie's attempts to be friendly. And sent her into a frenzy of apologies... "...Not that you needed to be here. I'm sorry. You just...you can do whatever you want. Sorry. I wasn't trying to question you or anything..." She was going to get stabbed. She was going to get stabbed in the face. Although that would solve her Ally and Gill problem.

She must have closed her eyes at some point in the last few seconds—in preparation for getting stabbed in the face, since maybe it wouldn't be so painful if she didn't see it coming, which made absolutely no sense whatsoever, but whatever—because she suddenly opened them and was greeted by the sight of Natalya's face only a few inches from her own.

And _now_ she yelped, jumping back and managing to slam her head against the upper bunk in the process. Smooth, Mattie. Really smooth...

"Why are you crying?"

...Well. She hadn't been expecting that. Not from Natalya at least. "Ah—noth—nothing important... I just... Ally's angry with me..."

"Should I break her fingers for you?"

And that had been even more unexpected. For a few moments, all Mattea could do was stare in horror at the other girl, whose expression was still entirely unreadable. She had to be joking, right? She hadn't really meant that... But then again, Mattie couldn't really see Natalya as being a joking sort of person.

"Only one? I could break just her pinkie..."

"No!" And now Mattie finally found her voice again. "No. No. I don't want you to break anything! It's not Ally's fault... It's mine and..." She now felt the unfortunately familiar choking feeling begin to climb up into her throat again. "And...she probably hates me...and..."

Great. She was crying again. Hadn't she already used up her monthly allotment of tears today?

There was a moment where neither reacted, and then Mattie suddenly felt something brush against her hair, surprisingly gentle. She slowly lifted her head, to see Natalya still staring at her with that blank expression. But she was also stroking her hair, her touch oddly soothing and not at all homicidal or anything. Like she was trying to comfort her.

And then it was gone and Natalya had walked back over to the dresser, the movement so quick that Mattie could almost believe that she'd just hallucinated the whole thing.

At least she'd stopped crying.

And then she was brought out of whatever twilight zone she was in when the door was thrown open, in a way that was completely unlike the slow creaking entrance that Natalya had made earlier.

And Gillian stepped inside, red-eyed gaze immediately flickering over to Mattie's bed, her gaze immediately softening as she took in the other girl's rather dishevelled appearance. "Mattie..." She didn't even seem to notice that anyone else was in the room; gaze fixated on Mattie as she crossed the room and knelt in front of her girlfriend. "I am so sorry, Mattie. Don't cry."

Mattie attempted to obey, although the gentle touch was threatening to send her off into another fit. "It—it isn't your fault, Gill. You told me to tell her..." She leaned into the touch, needing the feel of human contact right now. And Gill's hands felt nice and warm and comforting.

"I'm still sorry. I'll help you make everything awesome again, okay?"

Mattie started to open her mouth at this, not entirely sure what she was going to say. Probably some sort of rambling string of 'thank you's and 'I love you's. But then she was interrupted by the sound of the door being thrown open again, this time slamming into the wall and possibly creating a dent.

"Gillian Beilschmidt! I challenge you to an awesomeness contest!"

"Al, I said not to do anything rash!"

Both Mattie and Gill slowly turned at the sudden shout that had suddenly burst through the doorway, two sets of eyes blinking owlishly at the figures silhouetted against the waning sunlight. Ally was standing with both hands on her hips, glaring at Gillian with a rather intense stare. Arthur was rubbing at the space between his eyebrows with a hand, sighing in exasperation at his friend.

"Huh?"

Ally now stepped inside, marching right up to Gill and poking her in the middle of her forehead, earning an irritated glare in return. "I challenge you to an awesomeness contest! If you win, you can date Mattie, but if _I_ win, then you have to keep your evil villainous hands off my sister!"

Gillian blinked in confused, but then smirked, a hand moving to rest on her hip as she stood up, the other hand grabbing onto one of Mattie's. "An _awesomeness_ contest? How in the world do you plan on winning an awesomeness contest against the epitome of awesome?"

Mattie glanced over at Arthur, who just shook his head in an 'I don't know this girl' motion.

"You scared?"

"Of course not! I can beat you any day!"

"Al, I thought I told you not to do anything rash," Arthur attempted to reason with her. Mattie could tell that he was aware that it wasn't going to do any good. You couldn't use logic when Ally was in her 'stomp out evil-doers' mode.

"So what's this 'awesomeness' competition going to be, anyway?" Gill questioned, ignoring Arthur's remark. Of course.

"Simple. Mr. Roma texted me the list of teams for the games and competitions we're going to be having a couple hours ago, and since a truly awesome person should be a truly awesome and heroic leader, I decided that we're going to do it that way. Whoever's team wins more points by the end of the trip wins the awesomeness contest."

Mattie blinked. She'd almost forgotten about the team-building activities that they were going to be forced to participate in for the next two weeks. Great. She wasn't looking forward to that. She was horrible at those types of games.

"Awesome! That'll be easy!" Gill replied with a cocky grin.

"Why did Mr. Roma text the list to you?" Arthur suddenly interrupted. "I'm the class representative."

"Because Mr. Roma and I are text message buddies, of course," she replied, glancing back at him for a second before returning to stare intensely to Gillian. Then she held out her hand. "So, you accept?"

"Of course!" Gill exclaimed. "May the most awesome one win!"

Great... Now her sister and Gill were going to be fighting each other over her. She could already tell that these next two weeks were going to be the longest two weeks of her life.

* * *

A/N: Poor Artie, no one listens to him. And Natalya was actually being semi-not scary. Kind of. Not really...

Okies, so I'm uber excited right now, as I am going to be going to my first con on June 26-27! (Unless something unexpected comes up, which does happen quite often to me...but hopefully nothing happens) Weeee...It's up in Michigan, called Jafax 15 I think. I have a friend who lives up there who invited me and whoever else wants to come with me to stay in his house while I'm there. And the con's free too, which just makes things even better. ;D Although I'm trying to find more friends to come with my friend and me and they're all busy which is laaaaaaaame.

Anywayz, so I'm excited. My first con! Since I finally found someone to take me. Yay! *happy dance*


	13. Chapter 13: Ludwig

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 13**

Ludwig was used to the insanity that constantly surrounded his sister. He'd been living with her for seventeen years now—minus those random three months when she, Antonio, Francis, and Arthur had decided to go on a spontaneous road trip... Without telling anyone, he might add. They had only found out where they were when someone—possibly his vati—thought to call Lovina's house and ask if she knew where they were. Which she did, since Antonio had been texting her constantly since he'd left. Somehow, the four of them had managed to end up in California, completely broke and staying with some random Chinese widow who couldn't even speak English.

That had been the single worst trip of his life, as he was forced to sit next to his fuming father for a whole five hour plane ride across the country. And Gill had _somehow_ still managed to talk their father—who Ludwig had never actually seen that emotional before—out of locking her up in the cellar until she graduated college.

Anyway, so Ludwig was used to constant chaos. He was used to whacky schemes and her getting into massive amounts of trouble—and getting _him _into massive amounts of trouble. He had thought that he was beyond being shocked by anything she did.

But the universe just loved to prove him wrong.

He was currently seated in the dining hall at breakfast, dealing with the usual incessant chatter from Feliciana on his right side and the sound of arguing coming from Francis and Arthur on the left. He was vaguely aware that Feli was saying something about how they should offer pasta for breakfast, but the rest of his attention was caught on his sister, who was sitting next to Mattie, across the table from Francis. So diagonally from him.

Ludwig honestly had no idea what to think right now. He hadn't been able to get much sleep last night, his thoughts too wild to give him the satisfaction of letting him drop off to sleep. And then when he finally _had _fallen asleep, it was only for about an hour. As he'd been woken up around three in the morning by Arthur's screech of fright when he woke up to find that Francis had climbed into his bed in the middle of the night and was now spooning him.

And then, he hadn't been able to get to sleep again, because his thoughts decided to return to what they'd been puzzling over for the past eight to ten hours.

Namely Gill.

And Mattea.

And the fact that the two of them were apparently _together_.

He had no idea how to react to the fact. It was just so out of the blue. He'd always assumed that Gillian liked boys... Granted, she'd never had a boyfriend, but he'd always figured that that was just because of Antonio and Francis's tendency to scare off anyone who got too close.

And, well, his own tendency of not being especially friendly to anyone that he thought might be interested in his sister... But Antonio and Francis were worse than he was...

The idea that she could possibly like _girls _had never even crossed his mind. Strike that, it had never even been in the same galaxy as his mind.

"So what do you say, Luddy?"

And he was suddenly brought out of his mental crisis by the realization that Gillian, Mattea, Francis, Arthur, and Feliciana all happened to be staring at him, as if expecting an answer to something.

"Uh—uh—I'm sorry, I wasn't listening."

Gillian sighed; apparently she'd been the one to ask the question, and continued, "I said, 'What do you think about calling our team 'The Most Awesomest Team of Awesome People Ever'?"

Ludwig blinked. "Team?" Apparently he'd missed something. "What team?"

"Our team for all of the competitions!" She snorted as she shook her head. "Really, you're being even more out of it than usual. I still don't have the full lists, but you and Francis and Arthur are all on my team. Tonio and Mattie aren't though, which is totally unawesome. Which..." She suddenly turned toward Francis. "When is Tonio coming back, anyway?"

"He should be back anytime now," Francis replied. He turned toward Arthur, who scowled back in response. "Ally went with Mr. Beilschmidt to pick Antoine and Lovina up from the hospital, right?"

Arthur nodded once and glanced down at his phone. "Yes, she kept insisting until he let her go with him. She just sent me a text actually... It says that they should be back soon."

Feliciana bounced excitedly in her seat. "Ve~ I'm so happy that Lovina's coming back! Aren't you happy, Ludwig?"

That wasn't really the word he would use.

"Tonio's probably going to be a mess," Gill remarked, as she grabbed her empty plate and started heading over towards the food line. "He always gets depressed when his little tomato's gotten herself hurt...and I'm getting more pancakes, anybody else want anything?"

Mattie started to stand, presumably to follow, but was interrupted by a sudden shout from the front doorway.

"Hola, mis amigos!"

"Shut up, bastard. You're too fucking loud..."

Every single head in the dining room turned, the eyes of the members of their group all widening in surprise at the sight they saw...

Antonio and Lovina were standing in the doorway, Antonio absolutely beaming, looking even happier than usual if that was even possible. Lovina was looking away, a flush creeping over her cheeks. Neither of which were incredibly surprising. What _was _shocking was the fact that the two of them were holding hands, and the Italian girl wasn't struggling to escape.

"Lovi!" And suddenly Feliciana jumped to her seat and ran to her sister, almost tackling her to the floor in her excitement. "Ve~ you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay, idiot. All I did was hit my head on a rock." She snorted and pushed her sister away with one hand, the other's fingers still intertwined with Antonio's. "You'd better have saved a seat for me. The food at the hospital was fucking shit."

"I'll get you something, Lovi!" Antonio exclaimed joyfully, now releasing her hand and leaning down to kiss her on the forehead before skipping off toward the line.

Ludwig blinked in confusion. Usually Lovina would be screaming at Antonio for kissing her like that in public—she'd yell at Antonio's for any sort of public displays of affection after all. But all she did now was flash a semi-irritated glance in his direction before following her sister toward the table where they were all sitting.

Ludwig mentally prepared himself for the screaming and cursing...

Which didn't come.

He blinked in confusion.

"Ve~ do you feel okay, Lovi?"

"Yes, I'm fine..." Lovina dropped onto the bench beside her sister at this and rested her elbow against the table. She leaned her head on her hand and stared across the room at where Antonio was standing in line, talking excitedly to someone who looked rather confused as to why this person was suddenly chatting with them.

And Ludwig blinked again, because he thought—although it might just have been a hallucination—that he caught her lips twitch upwards into a smile as she stared at the Spaniard.

"Ve~ did something happen with you and Antonio?" Feliciana suddenly questioned, effectively startling the smile—if it was a smile, it could just be a trick of the light if it wasn't a hallucination—off of her sister's face.

"Wh—what? Of course not!" And now she was scowling again, sitting up straight, arms crossed over her chest defensively. "Why the fuck would you ask something like that?"

"Because you're both acting very happy... Ve~ did something good happen?"

"Holy shit!" And Ludwig's attention was drawn back to his sister, who apparently was so distracted by the sudden happenings that she'd entirely forgotten that she'd been about to go get more pancakes. "You did it in a _hospital_? That's even worse than the dressing room fiasco..." She glanced pointedly toward where Francis and Arthur were sitting at this. Ludwig didn't want to know what event she was referring to, although he could probably guess.

"Huh? What the—No! Fucking perverts! There's no fucking way I'd ever do _that _in a fucking hospital. Disgusting perverts..."

"So outside of a hospital, it's okay?"

Now Lovina was starting to act like her usual self. Since she looked as if she were considering jumping across the table and throttling Gillian.

She was only stopped due to the fact that Mattea actually had the ability to read the atmosphere and suddenly stood up and grabbed Gill's arm, leading her away from the table. "Come on, Gill. We should get some more pancakes before they're all gone, right?"

And Gillian was effectively distracted as she followed the other girl away. Thankfully. Since Ludwig definitely didn't want to get in the middle of _that_ fight...

Not that things could stay peaceful for long around here.

"ARTIE!"

Arthur winced rather visibly at the piercing cry coming from the doorway. The piercing cry that managed to regain everyone's attention again.

As Ally was silhouetted in the doorframe, eyes wide as she panted, as if she'd run a mile or something. And then she ran across the room, practically tackling Arthur as she threw her arms around his neck, quite possibly cutting off his air supply.

"Artie! Mr. Beilschmidt wouldn't let me switch you with the evil commie! I don't want you to be on the enemy's team!"

Arthur didn't immediately answer, probably since he couldn't breathe. Which, after a few moments, she seemed to realize, as she finally loosened her grip. He took a deep breath and then responded, rather irritably, "I told you that he wouldn't. It doesn't matter anyway; they're just teams for some ridiculous games. It's not like they actually mean anything. And I thought I told you to stop calling Ivan a communist..."

"But, Artie~! They do so mean something! My little sister's purity rests upon this game!"

Arthur sighed again, flashing Ludwig a look that plainly read 'please get this crazy person away from me'.

Ludwig just shrugged. He had his own crazy people to deal with; there was only so much he could do. Besides, he had no idea what they were even talking about, and he'd like to keep things that way as long as he could...

"Al, this was your crazy idea. I told you not to do anything rash..."

Ally pouted, but then leaned forward and whispered softly, "But you'll help me, though. You don't want Mattie to be tainted by the evil albino, right?"

And for a moment, Ludwig just wanted to smack his face against the table. Wrong thing to say, Ally. Wrong thing to say...

Arthur just stared at her for a moment and then his eyes widened in horror and shock. "Wha—what? Wait, you—you want me to _cheat_?"

Ally's eyes widened in surprise at the expression of pure fury that suddenly crossed Arthur's face. "Wha—no. It wouldn't be cheating. It'd be like—like—like being a secret agent!"

"You think that I would _cheat _for you!" Ludwig groaned, especially when he noticed that everyone was staring at their table again. He greatly wished that a hole would suddenly appear in the floor and swallow them up.

"Woah, Artie, I'm sorry...I didn't..."

"I'll have you know, _Allison Felicity Jones_, that I would never _cheat_ in any sort of competition! Not for you! Not for anyone! And I'll show you!" He was suddenly standing up, screeching in her face. Even Francis looked surprised, although his expression gradually twisted into an amused smirk. "Our team is going to fucking crush your team into the dust! There will be nothing _left _of your team by the time we're done with it!"

"Artie—I didn't—"

Arthur wasn't listening. He reached down, grabbing Francis's arm and yanking him to his feet. "Come on, Francis. We need to start planning our battle strategies."

"Oui, Arthur." He was now grinning, flashing a rather victorious smirk toward the apparently shell-shocked Ally. "Au revoir, Allison. May the best team win."

And the two of them walked right out of the dining hall, every eye in the room following their path...

And suddenly Ludwig felt a tugging on his sleeve and he looked down to see Feliciana staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Ve~ Ludwig. Can I be on Arthur's team? I don't want to get crushed into dust..."

* * *

A/N: Oh dear, Ally. What have you done?

Haha, okay. So with the teams, I'm trying to decide how to set them up now. We've got some of the players placed already, but I haven't got everyone yet. How it's going to be is there will be three teams. Ally's, Gill's, and the team of people who have no idea what's going on and why the other two teams are taking this so seriously... (Poor guys...I feel bad for this team.)

If anybody has any specific ideas for characters to show up/ideas of where to place them, I'd be open for your ideas... Not that I'll be able to grant all of them, but I'll definitely take your ideas into consideration.


	14. Chapter 14: Gillian

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 14**

Gillian almost felt sorry for Ally.

Almost.

After all, the poor girl was engaging in an awesomeness contest with _her_, the embodiment of awesomeness herself. If it weren't for the fact that her dating of Mattie was on the line (not that it was _really_ on the line, because if she wanted to date Mattie, she'd date Mattie, no matter what anyone said), she may have decided to take pity on the poor girl. She could play a little easier; give her a chance at winning...

But now. Now she was going to decimate her.

"Now, remember, everyone. We want a good, clean, friendly competition. We're going to have fun, right?"

She wasn't listening to a word that whoever was talking was currently saying. She was pretty sure that he was one of the camp directors or something; he'd gathered their group under a pavilion overlooking the beach in order to tell them all of the rules of the camp. Rules that she had not only heard multiple times before, but broken multiple times before.

At least he was a new guy. If he'd been someone that had been here before, she'd probably have been forced to actually listen... As it was, she was completely ignoring everything he said. Just shut up and let's get to naming the teams already.

Ludwig suddenly leaned over slightly, bumping her with his elbow. She shot an irritated glare at him. Damn it, she'd heard this same speech at least a dozen times before... And so had he, so why in the world was he taking notes?

Anyway, back to not paying attention.

So her team would totally win. That was a fact. After all, _she _was on it. Plus, she also had Francis and Luddy and Artie. And, even if it was pretty unawesome that Tonio and Mattie weren't on her team, they'd still be able to manage. Besides, she'd noticed that for whatever reason, Arthur seemed more into the whole contest than she'd expected. And when Artie got into something, he got _very _into it...

And suddenly the man sat down, apparently finished with whatever he was saying. And Mr. Roma jumped up. "All right everyone! We spent a lot of time coming up with the teams for your stay at Camp Hahanee..."

"Harahawnee."

Mr. Roma pouted, as he glanced over his shoulder to where Gillian's grandfather was sitting, his expression completely blank. As usual. "Camp Harahawnee. All right, so once you have your team, you can come up with a team name, flag, song, national flower—Ow!" Gillian snickered as Mr. Roma jumped, apparently having just received a kick in the ankle from the man sitting behind him. "Fine. Fine. Be boring..."

He cleared his throat rather ostentatiously and then continued, "And here is Team One! First off, we have our very own Gillian and Ludwig Beilschmidt! Then, Arthur Kirkland. Francis Bonnefoy. Natalya Braginski. My adorable little Feli—ow, fine, Feliciana Vargas..."

"Ve~" Gillian smirked as she watched Feliciana launch herself at Ludwig, practically climbing onto his lap in her excitement. "We're on the same team!"

Damn it. Where was her camera when she needed it?

That could be useful. Feliciana would be pretty useless during the actual competitions, but she could be _very _useful as a weapon to use against her brother if necessary. After all, Luddy would do _anything _that the adorable little Italian girl asked.

"And finally, Heracles Karpusi." He glanced over toward where Lovina and Antonio were sitting together and smiled. "You would have also had my other adorable granddaughter, Lovina, but due to her accident, she's going to have to sit out for most of these games."

Antonio immediately bent over to whisper something in her ear. And she blushed beet red.

Eh, it was probably for the best. Having Lovina on a team with Ludwig would have just been _asking _for trouble. Although, this would mean that they had less people when compared with the other teams...

"However, since we don't want the teams to be uneven, my vice-P and I decided to call in someone from outside, who happens to live relatively close to here, to join us."

And at that, the pavilion erupted into chaos.

"Who?" That was Ally, who had been spending basically the entire meeting staring at where Arthur was sitting next to Francis...

Wait a minute!

Gillian performed a rather awesome double-take at that. How had she missed that? Arthur was sitting next to _Francis_. And they weren't trying to kill each other!

...Holy shit.

Anyway, ignore that little sign that they only had a couple more hours until the earth ended—damn it, and she hadn't even gotten to pull off her ultimate prank on Roderich yet... She'd just have to make sure that she made the next few hours hell for him to make up for it—Who in the world were they getting?

Not that it really mattered, because her awesomeness was enough to guarantee victory, no matter who was on her team...

Still...

"It's going to be a secret until tonight," Mr. Roma chuckled, obviously amused that he knew something they didn't know. "Anyway, now for team two. First off, we have Ivan Braginski."

Gillian laughed at the expression that crossed Ally's face. Obviously she wasn't very happy that Ivan had been named first.

Ivan just smiled. Creepily...

"Then Allison Jones, Antonio Carriedo, Kiku Honda—or, sorry, Honda Kiku, Wang Yao, Sadiq Adnan, Im Yong Soo..."

There was a screech from Yao at this last name and he suddenly jumped up, eyes flashing around in a panic. "What! Since when is he here, aru!"

"ANIKI~!"

And suddenly the Chinese man found himself being tackled from behind, two hands almost hidden by long sleeves reaching around him to grab at his chest.

"Let me touch your breasts, aniki!"

Nobody seemed entirely sure what to do, so nobody did anything. Besides stare in a mixture of confusion, horror, and incredible amusement.

Yao flailed. "AIYAH! How did you get here, aru! I thought we left you at home, aru!"

The Korean boy just continued to grope his chest to his heart's content. "You must have forgotten to wake me up to catch the bus, aniki! But that's okay! I just drove myself here, da ze~!"

Gillian was pretty sure she'd never seen Yao break down crying before.

Damn it. Why the hell had she forgotten her camera in the cabin? She'd just have to ask Yong Soo for a repeat performance. He'd probably be thrilled to do it...

"And now for the last team—"

"Um, Mr. Roma...Aren't I on Ally's team too?"

Everyone seemed rather surprised by the sudden, rather quite addition. Something that did not sit very well with Gillian. Although Mr. Roma quickly fixed his mistake, at least. "Ah, yes, sorry, Mattea. I must have missed you on my list."

That was one thing Gill could not understand. How could anyone overlook Mattie? With her beautiful, soft, curly blonde hair and big, absolutely gorgeous violet eyes, adorable smile...

There was absolutely no way that they were going to lose. She didn't care what they had to do. She was going to win this contest and _force _Ally to admit that she was good enough for Mattie.

"And our last team will consist of Berwald Oxenstierna, Tina Väinämöinen, Toris Lorinaitis, Feliks Lukasiewicz, Raivis Galante, Eduard von Bock, Roderich Edelstein, and Katyusha Braginski."

Because she knew that Mattie would be much _much _happier if she didn't feel like she was betraying her sister everytime they were together.

Besides, she needed to make sure that Mattie was comfortable with her. Since—now that the secret was out anyway—she definitely needed to take her girlfriend home and show her off to the rest of the family!

* * *

A/N: So. What do ya think about the teams? This should be a pretty awesome match, I think. ;D

And for those who are confused by the human names (or found it hard to follow):

Gill's Team consists of Prussia, Germany, England, France, Belarus, Greece, Italy, and a mystery guest.

Ally's Team consists of America, Canada, Spain, Japan, China, Korea, Turkey, and Russia.

And our Third Team (Aka: the team that is clueless about what is going on "Team Clueless" for short) consists of Sweden, Finland (who will be gen!flipped by request by Yuurei-san), Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, and Austria.

And sorry I couldn't include everyone. I would've loved to, but...that's a lot of characters. (Heck, this is going to be insane just with these guys...) And I needed to keep the teams even.

But mwahaha for Mystery Guest for Gill's team! xD Here's a hint. It's someone I haven't written about yet in the gender!flip series.


	15. Chapter 15: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 15**

This wasn't fair.

This was _completely _unfair. She was supposed to be the _hero_; she was supposed to keep her little sister safe and happy. She was supposed to make everything better...

And all she'd done was completely screw everything up. She and Mattie weren't talking, Arthur was angry with her and was now helping the other team, and she was stuck on a team with the Russian commie and a whole bunch of people that she couldn't trust because they were friends with _her_.

She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. She wasn't going to cry. Heroes weren't supposed to cry. They were supposed to be strong and know exactly what to do all the time. A hero shouldn't cry just because they had a fight with their best friend.

...Yeah, if only her stupid eyes would actually listen to her.

She pulled her knees up under her chin, staring down at the sand underneath her feet. At least she'd found somewhere to hide if she was going to cry like some stupid, unheroic girl. She'd been wandering around the campsite after the group had split up for free time, unsure what she should be doing. Actually, she knew exactly what she should be doing. She should be with her team, planning for how they were going to defeat Gillian and the others.

Instead, she was sitting on the volleyball court, digging in the sand with her fingers, watching as the granules ran through her fingers when she lifted her hand into the air... And trying to keep herself from crying...

Why was Artie so angry with her? She couldn't understand. Sure, Artie got mad at her a lot, but never like _that_.

All she'd asked was for him to help her. It wasn't cheating; not really... After all, Antonio was on her team, but he'd obviously end up helping Gillian. And Mattie...

Well, who knew what Mattie would do? She might have already been tainted by the evil albino for all she knew...

Ally sighed and started to trace a spiral into the sand by her feet. This sucked. This sucked so badly. She didn't want Arthur to be mad at her about something like this... Especially after what had happened in the woods...

Not that she really understood what exactly had happened in the woods. She felt as if _something _had, though. It was like something had changed... But...

She glanced down at her hands, curling them slightly. Remembering the feel of Arthur's hand in hers. Why had she done that? Holding hands was something you only did with your—like—boyfriend or something like that. And Arthur _definitely _wasn't her boyfriend. Best friend, sure, but...but...

"Pero, mi prometida..."

And she jerked slightly, hand immediately falling to the ground. What the—

"I said to stop calling me that, bastard. What if someone hears you?"

Antonio and Lovina. She glanced around; she was currently sitting behind a telephone pole, out of sight of most of the campground. Which meant that wherever they were, they probably couldn't see her...

Ah, there they were. She twisted her body around so she could see.

The two were walking along the path running along the edge of the woods, hand in hand. She blinked, slightly surprised. Didn't those two like never hold hands or anything? Although she had heard that they were going out from Arthur...

And then she suddenly realized what Lovina had just said. Something about 'somebody hearing him'.

That immediately piqued her interest. She sat up straighter, peeking out from behind the pole to watch as they walked along. Lovina was staring down at the ground, cheeks beet red while Antonio whistled cheerfully, swinging their connected hands back and forth. What were they talking about? Why wouldn't she want anyone to hear...whatever he had said... Ally had taken a couple of years of Spanish in middle school, but couldn't remember much of it. She knew 'hola' and 'uno, dos, tres' and that was about it.

Now that she thought about it, though, Lovina was on the other team, right? Or, sort of on the other team... She'd gotten hurt so she couldn't play, but she was still technically a part of it.

Which meant that she'd been right! Antonio _was_ helping the other team! He was already fraternizing with the enemy!

...Okay, so technically he was dating the enemy, but whatever! They were acting suspiciously!

"But, Lovi, doesn't it sound so nice? Mi _prometida_~"

"Stupid bastard."

Why in the world couldn't they speak in English? How was she supposed to know what they were talking about if they didn't speak in English? She scowled and moved so more of her body was hidden behind the telephone pole. Hopefully they didn't notice her...

Antonio laughed and then continued, "Mi madre will be so excited when we tell her! She can help you pick out your dress!"

Ally glanced out from behind the pole again. Dress? What in the world was he talking about? They'd stopped walking now, Antonio staring at her with a bright smile on his face as Lovina just blushed and stared at the forest. "You're acting like our...our... You're acting like we're already planning! Idiot. For all you know, I might decide that you're too stupid..."

"Ah, but, Lovi~" Ally watched, rather intrigued, as he suddenly released her hand and turned toward her, one arm sliding around her waist, the other lifting her chin so the girl was staring up at him. "You're happy too, right? You wouldn't have said yes if you didn't want this as much as I do."

Ally had always been amused by how red Arthur turned when he was embarrassed, but Lovina definitely had him beat. "Ah...Ah...Bastardo...I—I—

And suddenly he'd lowered his lips to hers and her arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.

Ally blinked in surprise. Well, that had been rather unexpected... And now she wasn't sure what in the world she was supposed to do, since she was now watching a full-blown make-out session happening only a few yards away from her.

She should probably leave. That was her first thought. Since she knew Lovina. And she knew that the girl would not be happy if she found out that somebody had seen her making out with Antonio. But...she couldn't actually draw her eyes away.

It wasn't like she was a voyeur or something! That was Francis! But, well, she'd never really seen anyone kiss before. Besides in those chick flicks that Mattie sometimes forced her to watch with her. And even then, she usually fell asleep within the first few minutes, so it wasn't like she'd even seen very many of those...

And, well, she was a little curious.

And these two were getting _really _into it, judging by the sounds they were making...

"Are we being spies now, comrade?"

Ally lost about three years off her life in that moment. As anyone would when they suddenly had a gigantic Russian appear out of _nowhere _and suddenly talk to you as if they had been sitting right beside you the entire time.

But she was the hero, and heroes were not taken off guard by creepy communists! "Where the hell did you come from?"

The heroic code of politeness also did not apply to creepy communists. Because you did not have to be polite to people who were scary as hell and could appear out of nowhere like freaking ninjas...

Not that Ivan seemed to care, as he just smiled that creepy-ass smile that Ally was convinced meant that he was internally plotting how best to overthrow the government in order to turn everyone into creepy communists like him. Someday she'd find his evil lair and prove it, too. Once she figured out how to get past his even freakier sister...

"Jao-Jao said that we should get together and plan our strategy, da? So we were looking for you and Antonio. And look, you are both in the same place!" He looked overly excited by this fact...

She glanced over towards where Yao was standing by one of the buildings, talking with Kiku in low tones while glancing around occasionally, as if expecting someone to pop out of nowhere and...

"Aniki! I found you, da ze!"

...Ah, never mind. Yong Soo _had _just popped up out of seemingly nowhere and was now groping the Chinese student's chest. And Yao was now yelling at him in...Chinese, she assumed. Ally made a mental note of some of the more interesting words. She should ask Arthur about them later; he was taking Chinese after all and he would usually tell—oh...

She felt her stomach give a slight lurch at the sudden thought. No, no he wouldn't tell her what the words meant. Because he was furious with her for some reason. She'd be lucky if he talked to her at all during lunch or dinner or any of their activity times. He wasn't even answering her text messages or phone calls... Which meant that he was _really really _angry.

"I should go help Jao-Jao, da?" And she jumped again, almost having forgotten that Ivan was there. Seriously, how could someone keep that quiet? Especially when he was so gigantic. It didn't make any sense... Creeper.

She just snorted, turning away, hoping that he'd take the hint and leave her alone. And then she glanced toward where Antonio and Lovina were standing and...Wow.

She hadn't known it was possible to kiss for that long...

She watched for a few more seconds... How in the world did they breathe?

And a few more seconds before she vaguely wondered if she should go break them up. Since they were apparently having a team meeting and that would require having Antonio with them.

...Then again, she liked having a functional arm. And she was pretty sure that trying to break the two of them apart right now would lead to her facing the wrath of a rather furious Lovina. Which would probably end up with her gaining a broken arm.

Besides, they still needed Sadiq and her sister.

Eh, she could always send the communist creeper to get Antonio later. Even Lovina wouldn't attempt to kill him. Probably... And not that she'd mind if she did.

* * *

A/N: Ally. Ally Ally Ally...

I don't really have much else to say. Besides the fact that I love how Ally automatically assumes that everyone is as into this competition as she is... Something tells me that Antonio and Lovina have already forgotten that there even _was _a competition.

If you wanna know what 'prometida' means... then look it up, lulz ;D It shouldn't be too hard to figure it out, going by context.


	16. Chapter 16: Francis

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 16**

"That bloody git...Idiot...I can't believe that I actually—Ugh..."

Francis definitely knew that voice. He'd heard it many many times in his life. The voice of a Brit who was in one of his pissy moods. One of his pissy moods that was most likely caused by a certain loud, pretty little American girl with big blue eyes and a lovely figure who _really _needed to learn to think before she opened her mouth.

"Ah, mon cher." Francis leaned over the side of his bunk to see Arthur standing in the doorway, having just slammed the door open so hard that it almost dented the wall. Really, Arthur, you need to learn how to control that temper of yours. Or at least direct it into a more _satisfying_ activity. "Where have you been all day, mon ami? I was getting worried that you may have gotten yourself lost in the woods again."

"I wasn't lost, bloody frog..." The insult was lacking in its usual vehemence, though, slightly surprising the French male. He frowned and set down the magazine he had been flipping through—a magazine that had taken quite a lot of creativity to smuggle into the camp—then leaned over so he could watch Arthur as he stomped over to his suitcase and began rummaging through his things in search of something.

"You are still angry at Allison?" Interesting. Arthur wasn't usually the type to hold grudges when it came to her. Since he was rather head-over-heels in love with her, as everyone in the entire school could tell except for her.

"Of course I'm angry with that git!" He seemed to finally find what he'd been looking for, as he suddenly pulled out a small silver flask of something that Francis knew was most likely alcoholic.

He immediately sat up straight and grinned slightly... He'd known that Artie would figure out some way to smuggle alcohol in. He and Ivan.

"She just assumes that I'm going to help her cheat... What kind of person does she think I am?" he muttered angrily as he twisted the top off and threw it back into his suitcase, taking a long swig straight from the container.

Francis decided not to point out that Arthur was currently doing something much more illegal than helping Ally cheat on some stupid camp competition. Since he wanted some of whatever Arthur had brought and therefore wanted to stay on his good side. "You know that Mademoiselle does not always think before she speaks..."

"She _never _thinks before she speaks, idiot." He snorted, taking another drink from his flask before he glanced over toward Francis and snorted. "You want some, frog?"

Francis grinned, holding out his hand. "Tsk tsk, Monsieur 'Class President.' Alcohol? On a school trip?"

Arthur snorted and walked over, grabbing Francis's magazine off of the bed and flipping through the pages as he took another swallow from his flask. "Porn, Mr. Bonnefoy? On a school trip?"

Francis laughed. "Why of course, mon cher. How else was I supposed to entertain myself on the ride up here? Particularly when you were sitting with your little heroine?"

He received a rather dirty look from Arthur in response to that remark, but after a moment the Brit slipped the flask up to him and walked away. With his magazine...

Francis frowned. That had been a rather expensive magazine too... But then he shrugged and leaned back against the wall, taking a swig of the drink. And almost choked at the taste. Ugh... Arthur had always had horrible taste in alcohol...

Still, at least it was potent. Just one swallow and he could already feel that pleasant buzz...

"It is unusual for you to get so worked up about something like this, mon cher. All she asked was for you to help her." Not that he especially minded, since having Arthur in this sort of mood would make it much _much _easier to defeat Ally's team.

Arthur plopped down onto Ludwig's bed, leaning back against the wall as he flipped through the magazine. "Well, she should know that there's no way I'd help her like _that._ I'm—I don't _do _that kind of thing anymore... And...Having Al ask that..."

Ah... And now it made sense. In a twisted, 'only Arthur would think this way' sort of way... "Is that why you won't admit it?"

"Admit what?"

Francis sighed. Arthur really needed to stop playing stupid. "That you're very much in love with our very own idiot heroine. What, you don't think that she'd like you if she found out about your past?"

He glanced over, to see that Arthur had set the magazine down and was now staring up at him. His expression quite easy to read. That was _exactly _what he thought.

"It's...not that...It's...You know Al. She's smart and loyal and beautiful and sweet and...and she could have anyone that she wanted. She's a good kid; she wants to help people and even if she can sometimes be a bloody git, you always know that she's trying to do the right thing."

Francis frowned as he rolled onto his stomach and stared at his classmate, former sex-friend, one of his closest companions and simultaneously his most bitter rival... "Yes?" He had an idea where this was going and wasn't especially happy about it...

"And _you_, out of everyone, know exactly why I don't deserve someone like that!" He stood, weaving slightly on his feet... Francis frowned. Oh yes, he definitely knew where this was going. And he _really _did not like it.

"Arthur, mon ami..."

"I'm fucked up. You know that I'm fucked up." He started to walk forward, stopping in front of Francis's bunk and staring up at him with an expression that mixed fury, sorrow, and resignation... "I don't deserve somebody like her..."

Francis hesitated for a moment, but then sighed and leaned forward slightly. "Mon cher, why do you always do this to yourself?"

Arthur just laughed, leaning forward, resting his arms on the mattress as he looked up at him. "Because I deserve it."

"Ally loves you."

"She shouldn't if she does."

"She does and you're an idiot for ignoring it."

"Not as much of an idiot as I'd be if I let her make that kind of mistake. Al deserves somebody better than me..."

...Arthur was an idiot. A complete idiot. "Like who? She's in love with _you_. And you love her back. Just because you slept with a few people in the past and got involved with some illegal drugs and alcohol and stole a few cars and...whatever else the hell we did, doesn't mean that you're allowed to just throw love away like that." And now he sat back up, glaring down at the rather surprised-looking Brit.

"What?"

"You are being an idiot."

Arthur immediately scowled at this, looking as if he were quite ready to start a fight over the remark... Which actually would be incredibly satisfying. He and Arthur hadn't had an actual fist fight in much too long...

And they probably would have started fighting if the door hadn't suddenly slammed open, startling them both into jumping, Francis almost hitting his head on the ceiling in the process.

At least they weren't surprised by their sudden guests. As Gill burst inside, dragging her brother behind her by the wrist, Feliciana skipping behind, making her happy 'Ve~' noise. And Heracles bringing up the rear, yawning as he passed the two without even acknowledging their presence, immediately dropping onto Kiku's bed and probably falling asleep almost immediately.

"There you two are! You were trying to skip out on our awesome planning session!" Gillian exclaimed, releasing her brother's wrist as she walked over to Arthur and grabbed _his _arm, dragging him over toward the dresser. "That's okay, though, since you are going to help me. I overheard Ally's team talking about their plan, which means that we need to start planning our much more awesome plan to make sure that we defeat Ally's team."

"Why am _I_ the one who's helping you?"

Gill flashed him a look as if the answer should be obvious. "Because you're best friends with Ally, so you'll know her weaknesses!"

The look that passed over Arthur's face definitely helped turn Francis's annoyance into amusement, particularly as he watched Gill turn toward the others, who were engaged in various activities that did not involve paying attention to her. Feliciana was sitting next to Ludwig, chattering to him about games or something; Ludwig was nodding occasionally in at least a semblance of interest. And Heracles was sleeping, of course.

Natalya wasn't here, which didn't surprise him all that much. He wasn't really sure what she would contribute to their team—if anything. For all he knew, she might just decide to help her brother on Ally's team. Which left them with himself, Arthur, Gill, and Ludwig actually being helpful, Heracles possibly providing assistance if he could stay awake long enough, Natalya being helpful if she didn't help the other team or kill them all in their sleep, and Feli being—well, Feli.

"Listen up, dummköpfe! We are going to defeat Ally's sissy team with our pure awesomeness. We are going to crush her team into dust and then stomp all over her dust until it's completely and totally destroyed. My relationship with Mattie is on the line!" And Gill interrupted his internal musings, making sure to turn and flash each of them a very threatening glare. One that definitely sent Francis the message that they had better take her seriously. "If we do not win, then I will personally hunt you all down and crush _you _instead. Understand?"

"V—ve~?"

"Except Feli, because Feli's too adorable to brutally torture. But the rest of you had better take this seriously!" She frowned, and then turned and flashed Heracles a surprisingly violent glare. "Heracles!"

She must have heard something worrying from the other team, as she seemed irritated. And Gill was _never _irritated...

Heracles lifted his head after a moment, glancing over at her.

"We must crush the other team, Heracles! And we're going to need your help!" Then she paused for a moment, before suddenly grinning. "Sadiq is on the other team. If you help us, we can make sure that he's crushed extra hard."

...And Gill reached a whole new level in deviousness. As Francis had never—in his entire life—seen someone wake Heracles up so thoroughly... He actually sat up straight, eyes narrowing in a way that made Francis suddenly incredibly happy that he was not Sadiq right now.

"Really?"

"Of course. We just need your help, okay?" Gill grinned, and then glanced toward Arthur. "All right, so let's start planning! Operation 'crush the loser team to dust' shall now commence!"

The look that Arthur sent her was priceless. Then he sighed, rolled his eyes, glanced up toward Francis...

And immediately his eyes narrowed, sending him a rather irritated glare.

To which Francis just replied with a smirk.

Arthur could deny it as much as he wanted. If there was one thing that Francis knew about, it was love. Operation 'crush the loser team to dust' wasn't the only mission that he would be embarking on this week. He was going to get those two idiots together if it killed him.

* * *

A/N: Oh, Arthur... You and your angstyness...

All right, so I've almost definitely made the decision that after the main storyline of "Tomatita" is finished (which actually shouldn't take too much longer, maybe 4 more chapters?) and "The Rest was History" is done too (which I just put up, go read and review if you'd like, lulz), I'm going to start another multi-chap that focuses on what was going on during Arthur, Francis, and Antonio's delinquent phase. I'm actually really excited for it, too, since I've got most of it planned out already and there's LOTS of awesome character development to be had...

Also, I just received fanart for "And It's Supposed to be the Day of Love" so go and check it out and send LOVE LOVE :)


	17. Chapter 17: Antonio

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 17**

He was engaged.

He was _engaged_. Engaged to his precious, beautiful, amazing Lovina. His adorable little Lovi...

Antonio was sure that he had never been happier in his life... Although that probably was because all of the runner-ups for happiest moment in his life involved Lovina as well. The time she'd agreed to go to the Valentine's dance with him, the first time they'd kissed, when she had agreed to go steady with him, every other time they'd kissed...

And now they were _engaged_.

He could imagine it now; Lovina would look absolutely beautiful as she walked down the aisle. She'd be wearing a perfect white dress—probably picked out by his madre and Feliciana—the veil would be hiding her lovely face from view. And he'd be standing up there at the front with his best man and...

And then he suddenly paused, mid-thought. Wait. That was right; he'd have to start thinking about who was going to be in the wedding party now...

Well, obviously Francis would be his best man. There was no one else that it _could _be. And Gill could—

Actually, now that he thought about it, what could Gill do? She would never agree to be a bridesmaid... The very idea of Gill dressing in one of those long gowns and wearing heels and holding flowers was pretty ridiculous.

Maybe she could be a groomswoman? Gill would probably much prefer wearing a tuxedo. And it would work, since Mattie would probably end up being one of the bridesmaids, since she and Lovi got along pretty well.

"Bastard."

And Antonio was suddenly brought out of his daze by a sharp poke in his side. A very sharp poke in his side that instantly drew his attention down to the amber eyes glaring up at him from his side. He just beamed in response. Ah, his Lovi was so _cute_. No matter what expression she wore, she always looked so adorable... He could just imagine her in her dress already, so pretty...

"Bastard." And suddenly he was poked again, effectively waking him from the daze that he'd started to descend into, as his thoughts had returned to their former track. "Pay attention, idiot."

"Of course, Lovi." As if he really cared about anything besides the beautiful girl sitting by his side; besides, it wasn't as if anyone was saying something incredibly important. Just a general overview of what they'd be doing tomorrow. Capture the flag, crafts, swimming, a bonfire at night...

He suddenly smirked, noting that Lovina had turned her attention away from him. Giving him the perfect opportunity to suddenly grab the hand that had been poking him, forcing her fingers apart so he could slide his own between them. Lovina jumped slightly at the sudden motion...and then turned to flash him a glare. But, as he made a mental note of, she didn't actually pull her hand _away_.

Ahhh, he wanted to kiss her right here and now. But she'd probably be angry if he did that, since they were currently sitting underneath the pavilion where they'd been assigned their teams earlier, listening to Mr. Beilschmidt talk—along with everyone else in their group.

Although, Mr. Beilschmidt had stopped talking now. And he suddenly made a remark that—"Mr. Roma will be arriving shortly. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves for the time being."

He wondered if talking amongst yourself could include grabbing your fiancée... _Fiancée~_... and dragging her away for an impromptu make-out session.

"Antonio!"

That thought, however, was derailed—probably for the best, as he figured Lovina wouldn't react well to his idea—by Ally suddenly jumping up in front of him. He looked up, ready to greet her, but was surprised to see that she was staring down at him with a rather _angry _expression.

He blinked in surprise. Why did Ally look angry? He hadn't done anything to her that would make her angry with him, right? He couldn't remember anything, at least.

His confusion was only exacerbated when she suddenly shot her finger out, almost poking him in the chin and exclaimed "You're fraternizing with the enemy!"

Lovina's fingers tightened around his infinitesimally at this, probably not even noticeably unless you were him and knew exactly how to read Lovi's nonverbal cues.

"Qué?"

"Lovina is on the enemy's team!" He felt Lovi's fingers tighten again and he automatically squeezed back. "For all you know, she could be a spy for them, trying to steal information about our team from you!"

And now Antonio was completely lost. All that he was really getting was that Ally was accusing Lovina of something. Which he didn't really appreciate…at all. "Spy?"

"Yes! Spy! She's probably spying on us in order to help her sister and the evil albino taint Mattie's innocence!" She almost sounded frantic, as she glanced over toward where Francis, Arthur, and the rest of Gill's team were sitting. "Well, I won't let you! Mattie's my baby sister and I'm not letting anyone hurt her!"

"I'm not helping anybody do anything to your sister, hamburger bastard." Antonio felt Lovina scoot a little bit closer to him and lean some of her weight against his side. He pressed back a little, squeezing her hand as he did so.

"That's exactly what a spy would say!" She glanced over her shoulder again. Arthur was now talking to Francis, completely ignoring her… "You need to stay with our team!"

"But Lovi isn't _really _on a team…"

"And," Lovina argued, "Why would I want to help the potato bastards with this stupid contest? Hell, why would I want to help _anyone _with this stupid contest?"

"It isn't stupid! It isn't…" And suddenly Antonio realized that Ally looked as if she were about to start crying; she tried to hide it by bringing her arm up and rubbing at her eye with the back of her hand, but it was obvious. Particularly when she glanced back over toward Gill's team. "It isn't…"

Now, if there was one thing that Antonio couldn't stand, it was to see a girl crying. Although, now that he thought about it, he couldn't actually stand to see anyone crying…

Which is why he suddenly let go of Lovi's hand and stood up, turning to flash his adorable little fiancée a bright smile as she sent him a confused look. "Lovi~, you won't mind if I go over and sit with the rest of my team, right? It'll just be for a little while."

She immediately frowned at the remark, but then glanced toward Ally and seemed to reconsider her thought and just sighed. "You're going to make me sit with the potato bastard and my stupid sister?"

"Just until the meeting is done. Then we can go for the walk that we planned. Okay?"

She sighed again, nodding once as she looked back toward where her sister was sitting and yapping Ludwig's ear off. "Yeah, fine. Whatever." She snorted, and then stood and walked over toward the other group. And was immediately attack-hugged by her sister in greeting…

That had gone better than he'd expected. Then again, Lovi had probably been able to tell that Ally was upset too. And, as much as she claimed to dislike Ally—and most of the other girls that they knew—she really did care about them. Deep down. Very deep down.

Antonio smiled. Ah, his Lovi was so sweet…

"Get off me, you idiot!"

"Ve~ but, Lovi."

And then turned toward Ally, who actually looked a little shocked. "I—I didn't think you'd actually…"

"Lovi and I have been spending lots of time together since she got hurt, sí?" He smiled as he stood and took her hand, leading her over to where Kiku was sitting between Yao and Yong Soo. To where Kiku was sitting between the two of them and looking rather uncomfortable as Yong Soo kept chattering away about how he'd invented tug of war and bonfires…or something like that. "She should spend some time with her sister! Besides, you look sad."

Ally immediately straightened up at this, her eyes widening as she shook her head fiercely. "Wha—what? I am not—why would I be upset?"

"Because you and Arthur had a fight, sí? Just give him time, querida. He'll be fine soon. Arthur doesn't usually hold grudges; not unless you break into his house and steal his entire tea stash and then refuse to give it back unless he shaves his eyebrows…" Not that they'd done that… Not since they were 12, at least. And it had been Gill's idea, of course.

And now he paused in front of Kiku, who glanced up at the two of them, a tiny flicker of surprise passing over his expression.

"Hola! Can we sit here?"

"Um…of course, Antonio-kun," Kiku answered, hurriedly slid over—leaving space between himself and Yong Soo, who immediately pouted in response—allowing Antonio and Ally to sit down. Just in time, as Mr. Roma suddenly skipped into view, beaming brightly at everyone as he took the space at the front of the group that Gill's grandpa had vacated earlier.

"Hello, everyone! Sorry for the delay! I was just waiting for your new teammate to arrive!" He grinned, as everyone just stared at him. Obviously waiting for him to continue. "Now remember everyone, we're having this competition in order to have fun and learn to work together and some other things that I forget, but are also very important!"

And now he paused, continuing to grin at everyone.

And received an entire pavilion's worth of blank stares in response.

"Well, I bet you're just dying to meet your new teammate. So without further ado… The newest member of my adorable Feli's team…"

* * *

A/N: And insert EVIL CLIFFHANGER OF DOOM! MWAHAHHAAHAHAHA!

I am so evil. So so evil… And I LOVE it xD xD xD

Don't worry, you'll find out who the new member is next chapter. And get to see some awesome capture-the-flag playing… I think, at least… If anybody has any other ideas for camp activities, feel free to give me some ideas. I know so far that there'll be tug of war, capture the flag, kayaking, bonfires… Ummm, oh. And paintball of course xD

And in conclusion of this Authoress's note, I'd like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! *throws confetti in the air*


	18. Chapter 18: Feliciana

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 18**

Gillian was pacing around the cabin, muttering to herself in German, using words that Feliciana had occasionally heard her use before but didn't know what they meant. She'd asked Ludwig about them once before, but he'd just told her to not listen to anything his sister said when she was angry, especially if she was speaking in German.

"Feli!" And suddenly Gill whirled around, startling the little Italian girl into hiding behind Ludwig's arm and whimpering softly. Scary. She was glad that Ludwig was with her. They'd come here—to the girls' cabin—so that Gill could 'let off steam' as Ludwig had said... Feli didn't entirely understand why she needed to do that, but if Ludwig thought she needed to...

Still, she didn't like it. Gill was being scary and she didn't understand why.

She whimpered again as Gillian continued to glare at her. And suddenly felt a gentle pat against her hair. Coming from Ludwig...

She immediately cuddled closer to his side, enjoying that feeling. Ludwig~ She loved it when Ludwig was nice to her like this. Why couldn't he be like this all the time?

But she was distracted from that thought as Gill growled, "I thought your grandpa _liked _me!"

"Ve~ grandpa does like you." Why would she think he didn't? He was always talking about how much fun Gilly was—especially when he was talking to Ludwig's grandpa. Although, Ludwig's grandpa didn't seem to agree with him...

"Then why did he do _that_ to me!" She paced between the door and her bunk, and then suddenly kicked at the bed. Jumping and yelping almost immediately. "Ow!"

Feliciana would have moved forward to make sure she was okay, but Ludwig just sighed and shook his head, holding her back. "Maybe it's revenge for you putting those fifty-eight newts in his car last weekend. It'd be about time that someone gets you back for one of your pra—"

"Sixty-two."

And Ludwig stopped mid-sentence to stare at her in horror. While Feliciana blinked. "But Grandpa only found fifty-eight." She'd helped him count them all; he'd wanted Lovina to help too, but she'd locked herself in her room and refused to come down until they were all gone. Which Feli hadn't been able to understand, since she'd thought the little lizards were really cute. She'd even wanted to keep one as a pet...

"Well, there were sixty-two, so apparently you missed some." She scowled as she dropped onto her bed, rubbing at her foot. "Fucking bed... I almost broke my awesome foot."

Huh. She probably shouldn't tell Lovina about the lizards or she'd probably refuse to get into Grandpa's car ever again and then how would they go anywhere?

"Ve~" She shook her head, returning to Gillian's remark earlier. "But I don't think Grandpa would have done anything because of that. Why do you think Grandpa's being mean to you?" Her grandpa was never mean.

Gillian just frowned, rather scarily again, and then muttered, "He invited that—that—that—" She groaned and flailed her arms around, as if hoping that the proper word would just appear magically if she did so. "_Her_! He invited _her_! Why couldn't he just invite her _brother?_ At least I can deal with him!"

Feliciana blinked in confusion at this. Gilly was upset because of their new teammate? But... She'd been very happy when she saw her! How could Gilly be sad?

Feli had been paying very little attention to Ludwig and Gill's grandpa when he was talking to everyone earlier. Not because she wasn't interested in what he was saying, but because she'd found it much more important to watch her sister and Antonio instead. Since they were acting very _very _oddly. And she wanted to know why.

Now, Feliciana was very often accused by other people of being unobservant. Most of the time, this was a rather observation to make, since she _did_ have a tendency to not notice things that were happening around her. However, this was normal, right? After all, there were so many interesting things going on all the time, how in the world could _anyone _manage to pay attention to all of them at once?

Still, just because she didn't notice things like trees and rocks and cars didn't mean that she never paid attention to anything. There was at least one thing that Feliciana paid very close attention to: namely, her sister's actions.

She loved her sister, so of course she'd pay attention to her. Pay attention to her so that she knew almost everything about her; like how she called Antonio names because she was still a little nervous around him, how she didn't _really _hate Ludwig, how she sometimes felt lonely since she didn't really have all that many friends.

Feli knew a lot about her sister. And she knew that something had happened while she and Antonio had been at that hospital. Something that had made her sister very _very _happy and caused her to be acting much more openly affectionate to her boyfriend.

And Feli desperately wanted to know what had happened. She _needed _to know what had happened.

Unfortunately, she hadn't really been able to figure this out, since Ludwig's grandpa had stopped talking and told everyone to chat amongst themselves; she knew that she couldn't keep staring at them when that happened, since Lovina might notice her. So she'd turned and started talking to Ludwig—about what, she couldn't even remember.

She'd almost thought she'd have an even better chance to find out, however, when her sister suddenly came over and sat with them. Feli had given her the requisite hug and received the obligatory yelling that was her sister's response to displays of affection. Then they sat down next to each other and Feli had mentally prepared herself to ask the question...

When her grandpa suddenly jumped up in front of everyone with a, "Hello, everyone! Sorry for the delay! I was just waiting for your new teammate to arrive!" She'd pouted at this. Now she wouldn't get to ask!

"Now remember everyone," her grandpa had continued. "We're having this competition in order to have fun and learn to work together and some other things that I forget, but are also very important!"

And then he'd continued, motioning away from the pavilion. "Well, I bet you're just dying to meet your new teammate. So without further ado… The newest member of my adorable Feli's team..."

And then a boy that Feli had met a few times before stepped out from the hidden space between the dining hall and kitchen. A teenager with straight, chin-length blond hair who was scowling as he eyed everyone, one hand automatically resting at his side as if ready to draw a pistol from a holster.

Not that Gill seemed to care about this imposing posture, as she just squealed and raced over, almost knocking the boy over with the force of her tackle-hug. "Vash! This is awesome! We're totally gonna kick ass if you're on my team!"

Vash just frowned and pushed her away, glaring at her as she beamed back. "I'm not on your team; Lily and I just came since she paid us to drive her here."

And it was as if Gill had suddenly been smacked. Her eyes widened and she took a step back, looking at him with an expression of horror. "_Her_? What do you mean by _her_?"

"Good morning, Gillian..." And suddenly a voice replied, sounding simultaneously happy and friendly and rather threatening...

Which Gillian seemed to notice, as she suddenly—and Feliciana had never ever seen this happen before, so she couldn't be sure that it really _did _happen—flinched. If she _did_ flinch, though, the movement was really quick and she hurriedly pushed the involuntary motion away and stood up straight, whirling around to face the girl who had just stepped out from the same place that Vash had come from. A pretty brunette girl that Feliciana was quitefamiliar with...

"Hello, frying-pan bitch..."

"Lizzy!" And Feliciana hurriedly jumped up, scaring her sister into almost falling off the bench, and ran over to tackle the older girl in a way that was rather similar to the way Gillian had hugged her cousin. "I haven't seen you forever!"

"Hey, Feli!" And she was hugged back, the hostility that Elizaveta had been sending to the albino girl immediately disappearing. "It _has_ been so long! You should come over again! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, Lizzy!" She immediately hugged her even more tightly, and then glanced over her shoulder. Almost squealing as she taught a glimpse of a taller boy with longish, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail standing off, separate from the group. "Eli!" She released Lizzy and ran off to attack this other friend.

Gillian just continued to scowl at the now free Elizaveta. "Why are you here?" It was pretty obvious to everyone that Gillian was not happy about this. Not that most of them could imagine why. Especially Feli. They'd never gotten along, but they were cousins, right? Or at least somehow related. Gillian didn't like to mention Lizzy and her brother, but Ludwig had said they were somehow related... It was why they used to come and visit, which was how Feli had gotten to know them in the first place...

After a moment, her grandpa walked over, grinning brightly as he stepped between the two girls, who looked about two seconds from attempting to murder each other. "All right, everyone on Gillian's team, meet your new teammate! This is Elizaveta Héderváry. She was gracious enough to agree to replace Lovina on your team to keep the numbers even. And this is her brother, Elijah, and Gillian and Ludwig's cousin, Vash. They're going to be joining us for a few days, along with Vash's younger sister, Lily... So make sure that you're all very kind to our visitors!"

And after that, he'd talked for a little bit and then told the group to split apart. Saying that he was going to take Eli, Vash, and Lizzy to their cabins so they could settle in...

Which meant that Gill had decided to grab Feliciana and Ludwig and drag them away to _their _cabin, where she was now pacing back and forth and grumbling to herself.

And this had led to Ludwig and Feliciana sitting on Lovi's bed, not paying any attention as Gill continued to pace and complain to herself.

Ludwig because he'd probably heard this same rant hundreds of times before. And Feliciana because she couldn't understand a word that Gill was saying _and_ because Ludwig happened to be sitting right beside her...

Meaning that she had the perfect opportunity to snuggle up against his side and lean her head against his arm. And feel a twinge of triumph go through her as he didn't immediately try to scoot away... Sure, he tensed a little bit, but at least he didn't throw her off immediately.

Feli smiled to herself as she pressed herself even closer. Ah, Ludwig was so _cute_! She just wanted to cuddle with him forever and ever. Especially if he kept blushing like he was now...

"Ah ha! I've got it!" Unfortunately, he was suddenly startled into sitting up straighter, inadvertently knocking Feli away in the process, when Gill paused mid-step and stared up at the ceiling as if she'd just received a revelation from God.

"I've got it! The perfect way to make sure that Lizzy helps our awesome team! Come on, Luddy! You and Roddy are going to help me!"

"Help with—" But he was suddenly dragged off the bed and out of the cabin before he could even start to protest.

Leaving Feliciana sitting all by herself. On her sister's bed...

Well, this wasn't fun...

* * *

A/N: Poor Feli... She got Ludwig stolen from her...

And all right, so who's confused? xD

Yep, I lied. Because I'm evil (and changed my mind on what I was going to do with this). I decided to introduce three characters instead of one. So now we have Vash (Switzerland), Elizaveta "Lizzy" (Hungary) and... Eli (Male!Hungary). Lizzy being on Gill's team while Vash and Eli are there as...observers...

Yes, we have a female Hungary and a male Hungary in this story... Partly because of a conversation I had and partly because I saw fanart of them together and it was way too cute and made me want to write them both together. So I did.


	19. Chapter 19: Mattea

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 19**

Mattie knew she should have hidden in her cabin today. As soon as she'd woken up, she'd felt this horrible feeling of dread fill her stomach. She'd immediately known that nothing good could come out of facing the fact that today existed, so she should have just hidden under her covers and refused to leave. Because today was the day that her sister and girlfriend officially started their ridiculous awesomeness competition.

...Okay, so she felt bad about not telling Ally. Really she did. She felt horribly horribly guilty about it, and she was willing to do whatever it took to make it up to her...besides breaking up with Gill, of course.

But _why _did Ally have to decide to do something this illogical and filled-with-the-potential-for-disaster? Having an _awesomeness_ competition? With _Gillian Beilschmidt_? The most egotistical (sweet, irritating, caring, insane, romantic) person to have ever walked the face of earth?

Mattie would have been fine with Ally asking her to do almost anything else. She'd do all of Ally's chores until they were out of high school; she'd tell Mom who it was who actually broke her favourite china dish when they were twelve; she'd let Ally borrow her special white hoodie whenever she wanted. Mattie was willing to do anything like that to get her sister to forgive her...

But no. Ally had to make things more difficult by declaring an awesomeness contest against the girl who probably thought she'd invented the word.

What made it worse was that now _Arthur_ was actually getting seriously involved in the competition too, which meant she had absolutely no one else that she could depend on to help her reason with her sister and Gill.

"All right, now does everyone understand the rules of capture the flag?"

And, just in case that wasn't enough, now she was being forced to actually participate in an athletic competition... Something that she definitely couldn't count as one of her strengths. And she knew that her sister would _murder _her if her usual lack of athletic ability led to them losing any of their games...

Why did the universe dislike her so much all of a sudden?

"Mattie~!" Mattea was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by a pair of arms wrapping around her waist and the feel of a chin moving to rest on her shoulder. "Mattie, why weren't you at breakfast earlier? They had _pancakes_! Not awesome pancakes like yours, but they were still pancakes!"

Why in the world couldn't Gill just say 'hi' like a normal person? Mattie was pretty sure that her heart had just stopped beating for a moment there...

And it didn't help when just the feel of Gill's breath brushing against her neck sent the organ skipping into overtime. She felt her face heat and she hurriedly spun around, sparing an automatic glance toward the field where most of the rest of her team was assembled with Berwald's team—their first opponents today.

None of them were looking toward them, thank God. It wasn't that she didn't want people to know about her and Gill's relationship... She did want people to know eventually. But... she needed time to think. She needed time to mentally prepare herself for the rejection that she was sure would come. Not from everyone, she was sure, but there would be rejection from some people...

Still, she hated to think about things like that. Especially when Gill smirked at her and leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. "Want a kiss for good luck?"

"I would think you wouldn't want me to have good luck, since I'm on Ally's team."

To which Gill just smirked in response, looking way too cocky. "I'm allowed to wish _you _good luck. I just hope the rest of your team fails miserably."

It just figured... Mattie couldn't help the small smirk that passed over her own lips. "Gill, you're so..."

And she was suddenly cut off by the feel of an arm wrapping around her neck and yanking her back so hard that it almost sent her completely off balance and into the dirt.

She yelped, panicking slightly until she heard the familiar—unfortunately—voice shouting in her ear. "Come on, Mattie! We have to get together with the rest of the team!"

Ow... Ally did not need to yell. Ally _never _needed to yell. Ally was loud enough without yelling. Particularly when her ear was right there. And her sister also needed to let go of her. She hurriedly dropped down, squirming out from her sister's grip and moving a few steps away. "Ally, we were just talking." Please don't be angry still. Please don't be angry still.

Ally frowned—actually, more pouted—and then took a step towards her again and grabbed her wrist, tugging her farther away from Gill. "Mattie~ we need to get ready! We need to strategize! We can't let _them _beat us!"

And here she sent a rather threatening glare toward Gill, letting her know quite clearly that she was _not _referring to Berwald's team.

And Gillian actually didn't respond with a snarky comment or insult or anything. She just smiled and shrugged. "Fine. I'll talk to you later, Mattie... Have fun." And then sauntered over to where Francis and Arthur were standing away from the others, talking to each other in hushed voices.

Mattie blinked, rather surprised. Wow. Gill was actually being mature for once. She wasn't declaring her awesomeness or anything...

It made her instantly feel a bit suspicious, actually.

That thought was startled from her mind, however, when she was suddenly jerked forward again, hard enough that her wrist actually hurt a little bit...

And it didn't help when Ally's grip tightened as she muttered under her breath, "Why did you have to like _her_?"

Mattie wasn't sure if she was supposed to have heard that, since she would have missed the question if she hadn't been listening so closely, hoping that her sister would say _something_ to her. She almost gave a sigh of relief when she finally did talk to her.

Almost. Because Ally still didn't sound happy; although at least she didn't sound completely livid anymore.

"I—I don't know... It just kind of happened." It wasn't like she'd _asked _to fall in love with Gillian Beilschmidt...

"Anybody else, besides the commie. I don't even care which gender you prefer. I just don't understand why _her_?"

Mattie wasn't really sure how to respond to that. As if she had any clue why she'd fallen in love with her polar opposite. It was just one of those things that happened... She knew that it would've been easier for pretty much everyone if she'd fallen for someone else... Some smart, polite boy that never got in trouble or anything...

...She couldn't even imagine dating someone like that at this point. She'd be bored without Gill's insane antics and everything...

So she didn't regret it. She didn't regret it at all...

"Ally, I really do love her."

The remark was met by silence. The only visible sign that her sister had heard her could be found in the strengthening of her scowl and the tightening of her jaw. But she didn't say anything, just tugged her to the circle where the rest of their team was waiting. She was pushed right in between Ivan and Kiku, Ally taking her place on the other side of the circle between Yong Soo and Sadiq.

"All right..." Mattie felt her heart sink slightly as Ally specifically refused to meet her eyes, instead turning to stare at Kiku on her other side. "What's the plan?"

There was a moment of hesitation, as Kiku glanced between them. But then he seemed to decide that it wasn't any of his business. "Ah... I think that we should place Mattea-san, Yong Soo, Sadiq-san, and yourself on offensive. Ivan-san, Yao, Antonio-kun, and I will defend the flag. I have various other techniques, but I don't feel like they will be necessarily required..."

Ally nodded. "This match shouldn't be too difficult. It'll be Gill's team that we really have to worry about." She glanced toward Mattie at this remark, determination flashing over her expression. "Just remember that we have to win this competition. No matter what. It is extremely _extremely _important."

Mattea really really wished she hadn't gotten out of bed this morning.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this took so long (I feel like I've been saying this a lot recently). The reasoning for this one is partly that life is kicking my butt, but actually mostly just I'm trying to figure out how to write these chapters. As I can't possibly write every single event and every single match...we'd be here forever ;D

So instead, I'm picking out certain events, matches, etc. to write about and others will be touched on in other ways. (For those of you who were wondering about when this is gonna end...Ha...Let's just say that I've mentally intimidated myself pretty badly on this one...We'll do it, though! I just might need to get my planning whiteboard ASAP so I can start mapping out the order of when things happen...Right now I'm just managing to confuse myself xD).

...Haha, I feel like I just need to do a whole lot of mapping out of stories in general. I have so many ideas that I need to write them all down

In other news, I got a HUGE amount of fanart for this story recently. Which made me super super super happy! I'm so glad that you guys like this story. I love writing it ;D So go check out the art on my profile and show love love.

And for those who don't know, there's also a poll on my profile for this story about which guest POV you'd like to see later. I can't say when, as it'll depend on a few different factors, but I'll probably write with like the top 3 or so.


	20. Chapter 20: Kiku

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 20**

"Is that how you usually play 'capture the flag', Allison-san?"

"Of course not! They're all cheaters, the lousy... Ow~! That hurts!"

"I'm very sorry, Allison-san."

Kiku supposed that he should be happy now for the medical knowledge that his parents had been sharing with him since he was a child. Not that he ever would have expected that he'd someday be using it to play doctor for his friends after a rather extreme game of capture the flag. "I told you that it would sting a little, Allison-san."

Ally pouted in response, wiping at the scrape on her cheek that Kiku had just bathed with peroxide. "I wasn't expecting it right then..."

Kiku just shrugged and then turned as he heard a groan from where Sadiq was lying on top of the picnic table, under the pavilion that was now serving as their makeshift hospital, with an ice pack pressed against his right eye. "Damn Heracles..."

Mattie immediately stood at this, walking over and carefully removing the pack from his eye, wincing as she eyed the dark purple bruise discolouring the skin beneath. "Ow... It looks like he got you good..."

"Bastard fucking elbowed me in the fucking eye."

Kiku felt a moment of guilt at that remark. He'd actually noticed when that happened and, in all honesty, his first thought had involved more admiration of the fact that he was actually seeing Heracles getting passionate about something, than sympathy for the person who had just gotten elbowed in the eye.

Still. It wasn't very often that he saw Heracles exert that much energy. It had been rather—

No, it hadn't been anything. Not at all. He shook his head, forcing the thought away and returned to his nursing of the still injured.

Now, Kiku didn't really know very much about 'capture the flag', besides the basic idea. But even he had known that they were about to be slaughtered when he looked out at the other team and saw the matching evil smirks that crossed over Francis, Arthur, and Gillian's lips.

Which was why he'd decided to spend the entire game standing near the flag and just watching as the members of Gillian's team effortlessly outmanuevered all of Ally's attempts at strategizing.

It had been a rather crushing defeat.

And the only people on the entire team who had come out of it unscathed were Kiku himself, Mattie, and Ivan... Kiku and Mattie because they had been smart enough to accept their imminent defeat and stay out of the way of everyone else. And Ivan because... Well...

"That was fun. It will be so fun to play again tomorrow, da?"

Because Ivan was scary and no one who wanted to live for any reasonable amount of time would dare attack him.

"What the hell was that?" And now Ally jumped up, glaring at the rest of their team. "That was the most horrible game of capture the flag that I've ever seen! You guys totally gave up!"

Mattie blinked once, and then groaned. "Ally, you and Gill are both taking this way too seriously. This isn't life and death..."

"The only one who was playing even semi-decently was the evil commie!"

Yao, who had been sitting right beside the Russian and muttering to himself in Mandarin for the past fifteen minutes, now lifted his head and stared at her in a mixture of amazement and disbelief. "What? Allison, they were trying to murder us!"

"So? You should've been doing the same thing! We totally lost because you guys all chickened out on me!"

"...How hard did you hit the ground when Francis pushed you over?" Mattie questioned, moving over to stand in front of her sister. "Ally, you two need to stop this. I can talk to Gill and get her to quit it, but if you keep this up— I know you two. You're both overly competitive."

Kiku frowned very slightly as he glanced between the two. He hadn't been aware of why exactly Ally and Gill were taking this competition so seriously, but he was starting to get an idea...

Which meant that this could turn out rather badly. Especially since Gill's team definitely had the advantage. Sure they had Ally and Ivan, but Gill's team had not only Ludwig, but also Arthur and Francis. Who he knew could make an incredibly effective combination when they weren't fighting.

"Kiku?"

And Kiku turned, surprised to see Heracles standing outside of the pavilion, staring at him with his usual calm expression. Although it was also mixed with a tiny twinge of something else... Almost like nervousness. "Ah, Heracles-san?"

He smiled slightly. "Ah, I saw a cat over near the volleyball courts earlier. And it looked like it might be limping... I was wondering if you'd like to come with me and look for it."

Kiku often wondered about himself. He and Heracles had been friends since they were children; they used to play together all of the time. Sometimes he would go over to Heracles' house and play with his kittens and then other times Heracles would come over to his house and eat dinner with his family, stumbling as he attempted to learn how to use the chopsticks. He'd always loved learning about Kiku's culture, which had made him a very welcome guest in their home

And then, somewhere along the line, their friendship had changed. After Heracles had moved to Greece with his family when he was ten. Leaving Kiku behind, feeling heartbroken at the loss of his best friend. And then, six years later, he'd returned.

He'd returned, yes... But was no longer the short, rather dainty boy that Kiku remembered.

Oh no. Definitely not. Instead, he'd returned as probably the most handsome man that he had ever seen... Still the same Heracles. Still the same lazy, brilliant, cat-loving Heracles that loved to try to learn his language. The same Heracles, but wrapped up in a much different body. A much different body that had led to a very different reaction in Kiku.

And had also eventually led to the rather terrifying realization that his feelings for his former playmate were starting to change as well.

"Ah..." Which Kiku really did not enjoy. At all. Because who wanted to suddenly have to face that sort of understanding? It was why he usually ignored it...

But that was difficult when he suddenly felt a hand pushing at his elbow, and looked to the side to see Mattea smiling up at him with a rather knowing expression.

"Sure. Kiku would love to go with you. Wouldn't you, Kiku?" The look that she sent him made him nod in the affirmative.

"But..." Although he could still protest. He definitely couldn't go out with Heracles. Not when his chest was tightening and he felt as if things were fluttering around inside. That couldn't be healthy. He might be having a heart attack or something. So he definitely shouldn't go looking for a stray cat with him.

And then his saviour jumped onto his other arm. "Wait!" Thank God for Ally. "Heracles is on the enemy's team! That's fraternizing with the enemy! We can't have _three _people fraternizing with the enemy!"

"_Ally..._" Nevermind. That tone of voice coming from Mattie was enough to even scare Kiku. Ally immediately jumped back, holding up her hands as if in defeat.

"I mean, sure, go on. Everybody else is doing it, so why not?"

...And there went his last hope.

"Good." Mattie pushed him forward, almost straight into Heracles' arms. Thankfully he caught himself at the last moment. Although Kiku was sure that his face was probably bright red right now. "Go have fun. I'll take care of the rest of this."

"Ah, but..."

"Hey, I still need to get back at that bastard for giving me a—Ow!"

"Sorry for stepping on your foot, Sadiq."

And Kiku decided that saving himself from a heart attack wasn't worth dealing with the wrath of Mattea Williams. Not even close.

* * *

A/N: So, to make up for the fact that there was such a long wait for this (and because I wrote this without internet access because I'm in Gettysburg now, and I only had all the chapters available without the internet for this story) I decided to update this story today.

And our current score in the Awesomeness Competition is: Team Hero: 0, Team Awesome: 1.

Kiku was one of the top Guest POVs that you guys chose, so here you go. Hope you enjoyed it. :) Keep voting though, because I'll do more :D Not necessarily in order of most votes, because it depends which fits best where, but i'll definitely do at least the top three (which at least at the moment is Ivan, Heracles, and Kiku). Probably more.

So it'll probably make you happy that I've set up a goal for when the first chapter of the delinquent fic will be uploaded. (Meaning that Tomatita and The Rest was History will be finished by then). And that date will be... September 1st. Becaaauuuse...that's my birthday xD And it'll be awesome to start a new fic on my birthday.


	21. Chapter 21: Ludwig

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 21**

Ludwig oftentimes wished that he weren't so easily swayed by little Italian girls with big brown eyes or older sisters who knew just the right words to say to make his resistance melt away into a puddle of failure. There had to be a trick to it. Someone just _had_ to know the secret of resisting the charms of the female species...

Unfortunately, Ludwig had not yet found that person.

"Ludwig! Ludwig! Look!" And that was all the warning he got before said little Italian girl with big brown eyes threw her arms around him and then rested her head against his chest, staring up at him with a happy smile.

All he could think now was 'Thank _God_ that Gill had decided to go down to the beach with Francis, Antonio, and most of the others. Thank _God_'.

"Yes, Feli?" And that's when he noticed that she happened to be covered with paint. Paint that she was managing to spread onto his clothing...

Not that she noticed. "Ve~ come on, Ludwig! Come and look at my painting!"

Yes. Feliciana had, in fact, managed to convince Ludwig to join her in the arts and crafts' building in the free time that they had between lunch and dinner. Not that Ludwig really minded that, because it was actually quite calm and quiet in here. The only other people who happened to be here at the moment were himself, Feliciana, Tina, Berwald, Kiku, and Elizaveta. What he did mind was the fact that Feli wasn't content with him just being there. No, she wanted to make sure that he had fun—ignoring the fact that he had absolutely no artistic talent.

Which was how he'd ended up attempting to paint a cuckoo clock. And failing rather miserably at it, as well.

And now he was being tugged over to where Elizaveta was standing in front of a table, blocking the view so he couldn't see what Feli wanted to show him...

"Ve~ close your eyes, Ludwig! And don't open them 'til I tell you to, okay?"

Ludwig immediately obeyed, knowing that it was really the only thing that you could do when dealing with Feli. Besides, he was rather curious to see what she'd made; Feliciana was an absolutely incredible artist, after all.

"And ta-dah! Open your eyes now, Ludwig!"

Which he did. To see that she was now holding a small light blue flowerpot up towards him, excited grin plastered on her face. He was distracted by that smile for a moment, but then turned his attention to the pot, upon which was painted...

He immediately blushed. A picture of himself and Feliciana—little cartoon figures of them; he thought he remembered Kiku calling the style 'chibi'—holding hands on top of a hill, both with beaming smiles on their faces.

Thank _God_ that Gill wasn't here. He'd never hear the end of this.

"They're so adorable!" And now Liza suddenly attacked Feli with a hug, kissing the top of her head fondly, and receiving a happy giggle in response. "Isn't it the cutest thing ever, Luddy? And Kiku just showed her how to draw them, too! She's so talented."

And now Elizaveta turned on him with a bright smile that Ludwig knew all too well. It was the sort of smile that she'd given him many many times throughout his life, usually right before she attempted to force him and Roderich to either A) Dress in women's clothing, B) Kiss each other, or C) Do both at the same time...

It was a smile that haunted his nightmares.

And it wasn't helped by what had happened yesterday, when Gill had dragged him to Roderich's cabin—bursting down the door and terrifying poor Raivis into passing out. She'd tried to convince the two of them to let her video tape them kissing ("You don't even have to make out! Just one little smooch!") in an attempt to bribe Liza into helping their team.

Thank God for Mattie walking by at that moment.

He'd have to make sure to get her a nice present for Christmas this year. Especially now that she and Gill were apparently dating...

He still wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Anyway, he was suddenly brought back to the present by the realization that Liza and Feli were still staring at him. Along with Kiku, who had been drawing something up until this point that Ludwig was doing his best not to look at, and Tina and Berwald. The two of them had been sitting at the end of the table throughout this whole exchange, paying them little attention, as Tina chatted while she worked on sewing a little white stuffed puppy together and Berwald occasionally nodded or mumbled unintelligibly in response.

"Ah, it's...very nice...Feliciana..."

Feli immediately beamed, like he'd just given her the best praise she'd ever heard in her life. "Ve~! I'm so happy! You'll keep it won't you? You can grow flowers in it! Or tomatoes! Although Lovi might be angry if she found out that you were growing tomatoes..."

Ludwig knew that if he didn't say something now, she'd start naming every type of plant that you could possibly grow in a flowerpot, so he hurriedly replied, "I'll grow flowers. We can go...pick some out when we get home. All right?"

"Ve~ really?" And suddenly he was being hugged again, this time even tighter than before. "I'll help you pick out the prettiest flowers _ever_!"

And Ludwig was sure that his face would have exploded at that moment from sheer embarrassment if it weren't for the sudden interruption of...

"Lizzy! I just accidentally knocked out some creepy Russian guy!"

And immediately all eyes turned in tandem to face the door of the building. Where Eli was standing, one hand against the door frame, the other wrapped tightly around the handle of a 'Cherry Red Iron Handle Skillet'... (Yes, Ludwig knew exactly what type of pan it was; he'd make the mistake before of just calling it a frying pan... Never again.)

"You hit Ivan Braginski with Berta?" And Liza sounded much too calm right now. As if having her brother coming into the room and saying that he knocked someone out with his Cherry Red Iron Handle Skillet was a perfectly normal thing to happen. Then again...it probably was normal for them.

"Hey!" Eli took a step inside, holding his hands up defensively. "He startled me! I was just standing there, minding my own business when this random guy suddenly grabbed my shoulder and did this creepy laugh. Like 'KolKolKol' or something like that. And then he calls me 'Toris' and...well... You don't really think super clearly when some random Russian guy grabs onto you and calls you by some other name..."

Ludwig often wondered if he'd inherited all of the sane genes that should have been spread throughout the rest of his family. It was the only logical explanation for how he could be related to these two. And Gill... Couldn't forget Gill.

"I figure that he's probably up again by now, though. I mean, I didn't hit him _that _hard..." And as he said this, he slipped his skillet over his shoulder and into his knapsack. Elizaveta had an identical knapsack that Ludwig knew held her own frying pan. He had never understood why in the world the two of them carried frying pans with them everywhere...

But there was no way he was going to question it. He'd learned long ago to never ever question anything that any of his relatives did. It was better for his sanity in the long run.

"What are you guys doing in here, anyway?" And now he suddenly walked over to Kiku and leaned over his shoulder to stare at the drawings that Ludwig had been doing his best to pretend weren't there...

And Ludwig hurriedly began to back towards the door, grabbing Feliciana's wrist and pulling her along with him. He knew exactly what was coming next... And he wanted to be as close to the exit as possible when it began.

"Ugh, you're drawing gay porn _again_?" Eli groaned, leaning back and wrinkling his nose in distaste.

Earning a glare from his sister in response. "It's better than that lesbian crap that you like."

Ludwig was only a few feet from the door now. "I'll have you know that it isn't 'lesbian crap'. It's the most beautiful expression of true love..."

"Are you kidding me? That's completely idiotic!"

"Ve~ what are they arguing about, Ludwig?" And now they were almost out the door, although Feliciana was still watching the two siblings, who were now standing on either side of a very frightened-looking Kiku, glaring at each other heatedly.

Ludwig felt a little bad for leaving their friend, but..."Don't worry about it, Feli... We're just going to leave them alone for now."

Sorry, Kiku. But even Ludwig wasn't brave enough to get between those two when they started arguing about... _that_...

* * *

A/N: Eli and Lizzy amuse me more than they probably should. xD And yes, a Cherry Red Iron Handle Skillet is in fact a real type of pan...And why is it named Berta? ...I honestly have no idea. First name that popped into my head. xD

And if anyone's seen pics of male!Hungary... He looks a lot like Liet. Particularly from behind. So... it's an honest mistake for Ivan to make...

On another note, I'm going to announce this again, even though I technically said something about it in the newest chapter of "Awesome Night" (but since that didn't get many reviews, I have no idea how many people actually saw the note). Anyway, so I've decided to keep "The Rest was History" as a one-shot for various reasons. Meaning that I just need to finish "Tomatita" now and then we can get started on "Round and Round". Weeee...


	22. Chapter 22: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 22**

"That was awesome! Seriously, that was the most awesome game of capture the flag _ever_!"

"Sí, you did very well, Gilly!"

"You really shouldn't be congratulating her, Antoine. Your captain wouldn't be very happy if she found out, now would she?"

"Did you see her face when you knocked her over? Score one for team awesome!"

Arthur oftentimes wondered why it was that those three felt the need to be so loud, even when they were just speaking amongst themselves on a beach with no one else around besides himself. Maybe they just had an inability to speak below a certain decibel level?

Especially Gill.

Especially Gill when she extremely giddy over her recent victory over Ally's team.

"Last one in the water's a rotten egg!" As evidenced by that sudden shout. Arthur glanced up from the book that he'd been attempting to read for the past fifteen minutes—he hadn't even finished a paragraph yet—just in time to see Gillian jump up from where she'd been sitting between Francis and Antonio and dart off toward the water with what sounded like a war whoop.

It took the other two a moment to react, but then they both jumped up as well and followed her, Francis shouting something on ahead about 'not fair; taking a head start'.

Arthur also wondered why in the world he continued to hang out with those three when he knew that they'd end up completely distracting him from anything that he attempted to do. Especially when they were screeching and giggling like three-year-olds.

And now Francis and Antonio managed to catch up to Gill, the water slowing her down considerably, and managed to pick her up. Rocking her back and forth a couple of times before throwing her farther out into the water. Arthur watched as she popped up after a few seconds, shaking her head slightly, and then pounced at the other two, sending all three underwater.

He probably watched them _because_ they were so distracting. He doubted he'd be able to concentrate on his book anyway... Not when images of Ally's disappointed face kept creeping through his mind.

He shouldn't have gotten angry at her. It was stupid. It wasn't like she _knew_. She was just being Ally—tactless Ally. It was unreasonable to snap at her just for being herself.

And yet, he couldn't apologize. He knew that he should, but... He wasn't going to help her. And she shouldn't think that he would. And if Francis was right about her liking him...

She couldn't. She _shouldn't_. Ally was too good for him. And if she did like him, then he should do everything in his power to change her mind before she made a horrible mistake and...

"Hey, Toris, we should totally go swimming! That, like, totally looks like fun!"

And Arthur was sufficiently distracted from his internal thoughts by that voice. That very _very _distinctive voice.

"Um, Feliks, I'm not sure if that's such a good id—"

"Arthur!" And Arthur officially gave up on getting anymore of his book read when he heard that shout coming toward him. It was hard enough to concentrate when you had the three terrors nearby, but when you had the three terrors nearby _and_ Feliks yapping in your ear...

He sighed and set the book down on the blanket. "Hello, Feliks. Toris."

You may as well just completely give up.

He stared down at the sand until a pair of light pink flip flops settled into the sand in front of him; then he allowed his gaze to rise past a pair of white jean shorts and a pink, sparkly tank-top, to a pouting expression staring down at him disappointedly. As if he'd committed some heinous crime or something.

"Like, what are you doing?" And Feliks's voice _was_ accusing. He vaguely wondered what in the world he'd done. "You'll totally get all wrinkly and gross if you stay out in the sun for too long! You should, like, totally get an umbrella to sit under if you're going to read out here!"

...Arthur, for one of the first times in his life, suddenly wished that Gillian would decide to come over in an attempt to bother him. He knew that she and Feliks didn't get along very well—he had no idea why; maybe it was because of Gillian's utter ignorance of anything 'fashionable'?—which meant that they'd probably start arguing, which may allow him the few moments of distraction necessary to make his escape.

"Feliks," Toris had come up with his friend and now tugged on his sleeve once in an attempt to distract him from the other boy, sending Arthur an apologetic look. "I think that he wants to read his book in peace."

Feliks just shrugged him off, stomping one foot into the sand and pouting as he flashed the Lithuanian boy a look of obvious frustration. "Not now, Toris! Can't you see I'm, like, totally saving Arthur from, like, having ugly, wrinkly skin? That's way more important than any old book!"

"Artie!" Arthur had long ago decided that the universe must have a personal grudge against him. There was no other explanation for why things like this kept happening to him. Not only was he being criticized for sitting out in the sun by a cross-dressing, valley-girl speaking Polish boy, but now he was hearing the 'I'm going to make your life hell' tone in Gill's voice.

Which meant that it really didn't come as much of a surprise when he was suddenly drenched, water poured straight onto his head as the evil, demonic, albino girl laughed over him. While holding a now empty bucket that had—until a few seconds ago—held about a gallon of lake water.

"Hiya, Artie! Why are you being boring and unawesome? Besides the obvious reason, of course." She smirked, resting her hands on her hips as she dropped the bucket into the sand beside his head.

He wasn't even going to question why she'd just dumped a bucket of water onto his head. He had learned a long time ago that it was best to never question Gill when it came to things like that. Instead, he just sighed and asked, "Why did you come up here, Gill?"

After all, Francis and Antonio were still splashing around in the water. Although, now Francis was standing way too close to Antonio and now he'd snaked his arms around his neck and suddenly kissed him on the cheek and now was running his fingers along his chest and he wasn't going to watch anymore.

He hurriedly turned his attention to Gill, who pouted at his question and blew at a strand of hair that had fallen into her face, her arms automatically crossing over her chest in a rather irritated posture.

"I need to put on more sunscreen and I forgot it at the cabin and now Francis and Tonio are being unawesome and making me go _all _the way back there to get it. Which is stupid because the awesome me is way too awesome to get a stupid sunburn!"

...This was why he didn't bother asking her questions very often. Arthur really wanted to point out that her logic made absolutely no sense whatsoever. But... She was the sort of person who would randomly dump a bucket of water on his head. She wasn't known for being logical.

If it weren't for the fact that he had been ridiculously hot when she'd done so, he'd probably have been more irritated than he currently was. Although he was pretty sure that his book was ruined... And it had been a reading assignment. And a school copy which he was supposed to return when he went back to class...

"Besides, like, if you got a sunburn, it'd like totally clash with your eyes!"

How in the world had he managed to forget that Feliks was here until now? Apparently he was getting better at ignoring the annoying people in his life. It probably came from all the practice he got with Ally...

And there his mind went again. Off thinking about her. And bringing up images again... He hated to admit it, but he was definitely missing her constant texts—whining about Ivan or Gillian or asking what he was doing or just being generally distracting—and he also was missing her constant presence and... It was weird, not having her always around, bothering him and telling him about all of her recent 'heroic' deeds.

"Awesome isn't going to get sunburned!" And Gillian managed to distract him again, watching as she leaned forward right into Feliks' face. "Awesome doesn't need stupid sunscreen either!"

"Oui, awesome does." And suddenly Arthur felt a pressure against his back and arms around his neck and then a decidedly _French _voice whisper in his ear. "Bonjour, mon cher Arthur. You look so _hot~ _right now. Why don't you come in the water with us and _cool down_?"

And Arthur jumped to his feet at a speed that would have put even a Feliciana who had just heard that they were serving pasta for dinner to shame. Managing to throw in a nice, firm kick that landed in the perfect place; the pervert's squeal of pain was music to his ears. And then he spun around and marched off.

"Oh my Gawd~, Toris. That's like, got to hurt!"

The idea of hitchhiking his way back home was definitely starting to appeal to Arthur again.

* * *

A/N: *peeks out from behind corner*

*has shoe thrown at her* I KNOW, I'M SORRY, I'M A HORRIBLE AUTHORESS! *wails* I made you wait so long... :( These last few weeks have just been crazy getting ready for college and birthday stuff and working and blaaaaah. Although, at least now I'm actually at school. Hoorah! Although...I totally need to unpack still. Blah.

Anyway, now that that's done...

Poland. Poland. Poland. First time writing him. Holy cow, I have never realized before how much I fail at Valley Girl speak. It made my brain twitch to write his lines. And... I don't know; it's a pretty unimportant chapter all in all. But... It kind of needed to be written before I get onto more interesting stuff.


	23. Chapter 23: Lovina

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 23**

Lovina was cold. She was cold and tired and would much rather be curled up in her bed, fast asleep, right now. So why wasn't she? Why in the world was she instead sitting on a rough, uncomfortable log, breathing in toxic smoke, and listening to the others argue over the proper way to toast a marshmallow?

"Why is the stupid marshmallow taking so long to cook?" Or complain about their inability to toast a marshmallow. Gillian growled in irritation as she tugged her stick out of the fire for the probably hundredth time since she'd started cooking the thing. "It's not even a _little _brown!"

Francis laughed in response, lifting his own perfectly-browned treat from the flames and passing it over to Antonio, who then sandwiched it between a piece of graham cracker and bar of chocolate. "You have to be patient, Gilly. It won't cook if you take it out of the fire every five seconds to check on it."

Gillian just flashed him a scowl and immediately stabbed the marshmallow back into the fire.

And suddenly Lovina's line of vision was blocked by a hand holding a sticky, gooey, dripping mess of marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker.

"I made you a s'more, Lovi!"

At this, she lifted her head, immediately meeting a pair of bright, incredibly ecstatic emerald eyes. Which did _not _cause her heart to flutter like a fucking colony of butterflies.

Ugh, who was she kidding? Every time he turned and smiled at her with that stupid, incredibly loving expression, she felt her heart skip a beat. The idiot was going to end up giving her a heart attack before they were even...married.

_Married_.

"Do you like s'mores?" And that train of thought was cut off as he pushed the treat so the edge pressed against her mouth; some of the melted chocolate and marshmallow mixture squeezing out and coating her lips.

She hurriedly leaned back, tongue darting out automatically to lick at the overly sweet mixture. "I—idiot. I don't need you to make me anything..."

He just smirked in response. And then bent down, ignoring her panicky attempts to scoot away. "You missed some, Lovi~." And then his soft, warm lips were suddenly gently pressed against hers.

Why did this feel so right? No matter how many times he kissed her, she always felt as if it were the first time. The felt the same tingles that had raced through her body then, the same light-headedness...

Although now, there was the added thought that raced through her mind every time he gazed at her with those green-green eyes. She and Antonio were engaged. They were going to be married at some point in the future...

If she were honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she was excited by the thought. Because... she couldn't imagine ever marrying someone who wasn't Antonio... She couldn't remember even wanting to date anyone else... There was always something wrong with all other guys that she looked at. They were too tall or too short, or their hair was the wrong colour, or they didn't like tomatoes enough...

And Antonio just happened to fit her requirements. That was all it was. She wasn't like one of those idiot girls who believed in soul mates or anything stupid like that.

He drew back now and she noticed that at some point, her hands had wrapped around his neck and now she was twisting his hair around her fingers. And he was just smiling at her in absolute bliss from where he was now sitting beside her, with his bare foot running along her ankle.

"Prometida~" he whispered the word into her ear, sending a thrill up her spine. Ugh, she was acting like such a pansy...

"Get a room!"

And that shout officially startled her out of her internal thoughts. Causing the two of them to turn, staring in shock at where Gillian was standing next to the fire, holding a still-white marshmallow on her stick as she smirked down at them.

"Gilly!" Francis scolded from where he was now sitting beside Arthur, who was staring at his completely blackened marshmallow with an irritated glare. "Carry on, you two~ Don't mind Gilly."

Lovina couldn't decide which she'd prefer, to push Gillian or Francis into the fire. She rather doubted that anyone would mind all that much; hell, Arthur would probably love to help her dispose of Francis.

Lucky for him, then that her attention was again distracted. This time when Ally jumped from her seat, holding a dripping s'more in one hand while thrusting her other into the air and pointing it at the sky. "Time for ghost stories!"

...Every single person, even those who had been sitting in groups farther away from the fire, talking amongst themselves, turned to stare at her now. Quieting. So she was just standing there, everyone waiting expectantly for something to happen.

"Kiku!" All of them except Kiku, who had apparently zoned off while staring toward where Heracles was napping against the log where Tina and Berwald were sitting together. And now jumped about a foot in the air before whirling around to face Ally.

"Ah, yes, Allison-san?"

"You should tell ghost stories!" She rested a hand on her hip and glanced around the circle. "It'll be awesome, right?"

"Why does Kiku get to tell ghost stories?" And now Gill jumped up, completely ignoring Francis's attempt to grab her arm and keep her seated... Lovina saw Mattea drop her head into her palms and groan at this. "I could totally tell an awesome ghost story that's totally awesomer and scarier than anything that anybody else could come up with!"

"Yeah, right! I could come up with a scarier story than yours any day!"

And now they were standing only a couple feet apart, glaring at each other with looks that plainly read 'I really want to beat you to a bloody pulp right now, but I'm going to resist because I'm totally more awesome than you and don't even need to prove it'. Lovina vaguely hoped that they would attack each other. That would be a lot more entertaining than any ghost story, especially one that either Gillian or Ally would tell.

Ivan, who was sitting next to a rather miserable-looking Yao (who had Yong Soo sitting on his other side, just to make things better) looked like he shared her hope, as he was beaming joyfully while staring at the two girls.

"Ah, Allison-san, Gillian-san..." Kiku started to stand, probably in an attempt to calm them down, but when two pairs of blazing eyes turned to glare at him in tandem, he immediately dropped back into his seat and instead stared down at the much-more-interesting earth.

"I'll prove that I can tell a more awesomer and scarier story!"

And suddenly, without another word, Gillian ran up onto one of the free logs, almost rolling it over in her exuberance so she had to fight to balance on it for a moment. But then she posed, as if expecting someone to snap a picture of her 'awesomeness'.

Idiot.

Everyone instead just stared at her, waiting for something absolutely insane and probably entertaining to happen. After all, this was _Gillian_, after all.

"All right, everyone!" She apparently had decided to continue, even if no one was snapping pictures. Instead, she raised her arms into the air for a moment, as if offering a sacrifice to God or something. And Lovina had to admit that she looked kind of creepy standing like that. With the smoke billowing around her and the fire flickering. Her long white hair gently billowing in the breeze, skin looking ghostly-pale in the moonlight. And of course her red eyes...

It was only worse when she lowered her voice to a raspy, husky tone, and slowly murmured the words, "It was a night like this one when it all began". Lovina felt a slight chill run up her spine. Not that she was scared. She was just cold. And she was only moving closer to Antonio because he was warm. Very warm, actually... Especially when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer so that she was pressed right against his body.

Idiot was probably scared. Stupid Antonio. She supposed she'd be nice today, though. Just because she felt like it! And let him hold her so he wouldn't be scared. But only because he was a wimp like that.

"Sarah, a nice single mom with five kids, was surfing the web like usual." Gillian paused, a smirk passing over her lips as she glanced over at Ally… Who _already_ looked completely terrified. And was starting to inch toward Arthur, who was apparently attempting to pretend that no one else existed and was instead trying to put out the flames engulfing his marshmallow.

"She was on her favourite website—the Awesome Gill's blog of Awesomeness—when she suddenly smelled something burning. Like the horrible stench that fills the air anytime Arthur ever attempts to cook anything." She somehow managed to dodge the flaming marshmallow thrown in her direction without even batting an eyelash.

"Being the genius she is, Sarah starts running around the house, trying to find the source of the burning smell. Unfortunately, she can't find it anywhere and—for whatever reason—decides to go back to her computer. Which she suddenly realizes—" She paused dramatically, eyes widening in a way that was actually semi-creepy. "That it's her computer that's on fire!"

"So, instead of trying to put it out or anything, she instead panics and runs to get her kids and starts leading them out of the house, dialing 911 on her cell phone as she does so. And then—" Another dramatic pause. Lovina glances toward where Ally is visibly shaking, eyes almost as wide as dinner plates. "There _it_ was."

And now Ally squeaked in terror. "Th—there what was?"

Mattie frowned and sighed in obvious irritation. "Gill, cut it out…"

"There what was!" Before being interrupted by Yong Soo's cry of terror… Yong Soo, who was currently clinging to Yao as if expecting _something _to jump out and attack him.

"There, sitting on her porch." And now Gillian bent down slightly, eyes glinting in the flames. Blood red eyes with flames dancing in the iris. Lovina subconsciously scooted closer to the figure seated beside her. And vaguely noticed that her sister was currently clinging to the potato bastard, face buried against his arm. "Was…"

And now she jumped up and screeched, "An enraged ostrich sitting on her porch drinking wine and smoking a cigar! Startled, he violently pecks at Sarah's eyes. Blood is rushing down her face from her now empty eye holes! Her children begin screaming in terror! And the ostrich, because ostriches take children screaming as a sign of food, eats all of the children!"

And, just as suddenly as she'd jumped up, Gillian immediately dropped onto the log without another word. Gazing out at the horrified crowd with a triumphant smirk…

"The end."

* * *

A/N: *snickers* That...was so freakin' fun to write. xD Although I have to admit that I didn't totally make up Gill's story (I changed the wording, though). Who can guess where I got it? It's the same place Gill would have gotten it ;D

I'll tell you next chapter. Or one of the characters will. Either way.

...I sometimes really wish I knew a Gill, but I feel like I wouldn't be able to handle her at all. So, I salute the people of this story, even if I think the reason they can deal with Gill is because EVERYONE in this town is at least semi-bonkers.

Oh, and if anyone happens to know a good (short) Japanese horror story that I could easily find online, I'd love the assistance. :D


	24. Chapter 24: Francis

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 24**

Francis really wished that he had thought to bring a camera to this bonfire. He really should have known better. Getting everyone together for a night of roasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories—of course it would lead to some embarrassing hilarity that he would want to capture for posterity.

Ah, well. He supposed that he'd just have to make the most of it while it was happening.

In particular, he was making sure to etch the expression of horror and shock that was currently pasted across his favourite British friend's face into his long-term memory.

As Ally had apparently completely forgotten about their fight and had climbed up into the Brit's lap, her face buried in his shirt as she trembled violently. Completely terrified... And Arthur was just staring down at her with a hilariously horrified expression.

Francis would have to thank Gillian later.

"A—Al?"

The girl just continued to cling to him, her face pressed even more tightly against his shirt as her arms wrapped around his neck. And then she pulled herself farther into his lap...

And Arthur turned one of the most entertaining shades of red that Francis had ever seen.

"Al!"

"Haha! I knew that you wouldn't be able to handle the awesomeness of my story!" And Gillian jumped up, hands on her hips as she beamed at the gathering. Obviously incredibly proud of herself. "The awesome Gill is the best horror storyteller ever!"

Apparently not everyone agreed with her, though. As Lovina suddenly shot off an irritated,"That was the most stupid horror story I've ever heard!" Francis almost laughed at the expression that crossed Gillian's face at that remark. Ah, what would they do without their usual ray of Italian sunshine?

Ah, which reminded him...

He'd been watching Antonio and Lovina on and off throughout the night; most of his attention had been captured by Arthur and Ally's inabilities to accept their own feelings, but he liked to share his romantic focus on a variety of interesting couples. And he had definitely been noticing that there was something _different _in their interactions.

It was rather odd, actually. Lovina was acting more loving to Francis's adorably oblivious best friend... And Antonio was acting even happier than usual.

It was "curiouser and curiouser". To quote one of Arthur's favourite authors.

And thinking of Arthur—Francis returned his attention to the couple currently in the running for most 'obnoxiously in denial'. (The other major contenders included Ludwig and Feliciana, but he could get to them later).

And, as per usual, Arthur was flushing beet red as he attempted to free his neck from Allison's grasp. "Allison, quit—"

"But, I don't want to get eaten by the evil ostrich!" And clutched even more tightly, to the point where Francis was starting to wonder if someone may have to surgically remove her from the British boy's neck.

Arthur glanced helplessly around the circle, most everyone either responding with a blank stare or an unsure shrug. Or, in Francis's case, a perverted wink.

And now he sighed, staring down at the trembling girl. And then slowly raising his hand and then patting it gently against her hair. "It's all right, Al. It's just a story..."

Francis had to smile at the scene, particularly as he watched Arthur's expression slowly relax and Ally's body gradually stop trembling as he ran his fingers through her hair and then down to rub at her shoulders and upper back.

L'amour.

Francis had always 'loved love'...for lack of a better way to put it. He'd always enjoyed watching couples who were deeply in love, bound up in their own world, safe from everything outside. It was a beautiful thing—possibly the most beautiful thing on earth. And, as far as he was concerned, nothing should be allowed to keep people apart once they'd found their missing piece.

Especially not something as stupid as mistakes made in the past.

Which was why he wanted this to work out for his stubborn little friend... Even if it took forever to get Arthur to actually _admit _that he and Ally belonged together, no matter what he'd done in the past.

After a few seconds of silence—Mattie had managed to distract Gill from making a scene and ruining the moment and was now braiding the albino girl's hair—Arthur finally looked up, face flushing as he realized that everyone was watching them. "Um..." He pushed gently at Allison's shoulder in an attempt to get her to finally move. "Um, why don't we tell other stories? Ones that aren't scary..."

And Ally slowly lifted her face from his shoulder, revealing cheeks stained with tear tracks, although she hurriedly wiped them away and shook her head violently. "No. It wasn't—wasn't that scary. The hero isn't scared of anything. Kiku should tell a ghost story now..."

Kiku definitely didn't look like he agreed with the suggestion. "Allison-san, I think that Arthur's idea..."

But she hurriedly moved away, earning a rather relieved look from her former seat. "No! Tell us a scary story, Kiku!"

Kiku sent his own helpless look around the circle at that, gaze pausing for a few moments when they came to Heracles. Who Francis was semi-surprised to see was actually awake right now. And petting a cat that he definitely hadn't noticed before.

"Ah..." And now Kiku was blushing too... "Are you sure, Allison-san?"

"Of course! The hero is always sure." She definitely didn't look sure, as her eyes were still red and puffy from her previous-crying. But then she sent a look toward Gillian that Francis immediately recognized as a challenge. An 'I'm not going to let you get the better of me' look. Which only darkened as he looked over the tender scene between the girl and her sister. "Tell the scariest story that you know, Kiku."

"If—if you're sure..."

"I just said that the hero is _always _sure!" Francis wasn't sure whether to laugh at how ridiculous she was being or attempt to stop her from irreversibly traumatizing herself. Since everyone knew that Kiku was one of the most terrifying story tellers in their entire town...

And then Mattie attempted to stop her from forever mentally scarring herself. "Ally, this is stupid. You were scared of _Gill's_ story."

"Hey!" Which was answered by Gill jerking up from where she'd been leaning against Mattie's legs in order to glare at her. "My story was totally scary and awesome!"

"I was totally not scared! I just wanted to show everyone else that it was okay to act scared so they wouldn't feel bad!"

And Arthur groaned, pressing his palm against his face in what looked like an attempt to block out the idiocy of their surroundings. Francis smirked and poked him in the side, earning an incredibly irritated glare.

"Besides," Mattie ignored both of them. "Gill loves scary movies, so it's not fair... I mean, she's more used to them." Francis could tell that she was getting desperate, as now she turned toward Gill for support. "You and that friend of yours watch ghost movies or whatever all the time, right?"

"Zombie movies! Zombies are so much awesomer than ghosts! They eat brains!"

And that was when Mattie apparently just decided to give up, as she sighed and mimicked Arthur's facepalm.

Leaving Ally free to turn back to Kiku.

"Tell the story! The scariest one you know!"

And Kiku, after glancing around the circle and not finding anyone that was going to help him oppose this incredibly stupid request, finally sighed and settled his hands in his lap. "All right, Allison-san, but I hope you're okay after this..."

* * *

A/N: *sings* This is the story that never ends. Yes it goes on and on my frieeends~ One person started writing it, not knowing how long it was... And she'll just keep on writing it, not knowing just because—

...And now I am going to go maim myself for getting that song stuck in my head. Yeah, so...I was going to make Kiku's story be in this chapter and finish up the whole campfire thing, but...it didn't happen. Sooo... Yay? I guess. Maybe...

And I have been having so many zombies dreams recently... xD So of course I had to mention them. And who do you think Gill's friendis that she watches zombie movies with? Hehehe.

Oh, and Gill's story... (No one got where I got it from, sadly, although I would have been surprised if anyone did). It came from a chain email. One of those "send this to 15 people or the evil ostrich will come and eat your children". Yeeeep... Obviously, I modified it a bit xD.


	25. Chapter 25: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 25**

Okay, so maybe this hadn't been the greatest idea that she'd ever had. But there was no way that Allison F. Jones was going to let Gillian Beilschmidt defeat her in anything! After all, she was the hero! And heroes never _ever _lost to evil evil villains like Gillian Beilschmidt...

Especially when those evil villains wouldn't stay away from her sister.

At the moment, said evil villain was seated on the ground in front of Mattie—sitting right between her sister's _knees_—with her head resting against the inside of her thigh, one arm thrown over her leg, the other tracing patterns into the dirt. And Mattie was just sitting there like this was completely _normal_. She was even braiding Gill's hair...like she used to braid Ally's hair when they were little girls.

It must be mind control. Evil albino mind control. It didn't make any sense otherwise.

But...Ally was finding it harder and harder to believe that. The more that she watched them. When she saw how Mattie smiled at the other girl, saw the gentle, adoring looks that they gave each other...

What if Mattie actually did like her? Like _really_ liked her?

What would that mean for _her_? Mattie had kept the whole 'I'm a lesbian and dating Gillian Beilschmidt' thing a secret... And Ally had always thought that they were close enough that Mattie would tell her everything. What if Mattie ended up deciding that her sister wasn't important anymore?

Ally felt her stomach twist at that...

No. No way. Gillian wasn't good enough for Mattie and she was going to _prove _it.

Maybe Artie had been right, though... Since she was starting to feel a little nervous, as Kiku folded his hands in his lap and turned his very blank, very unemotional eyes toward her.

"All right, Allison-san, but I hope you're okay after this..."

"O—of course." She took a deep breath and then settled back on the ground. Noticing after a moment that she happened to be sitting right next to Arthur, who was staring pointedly in the opposite direction. Francis was sitting on his other side, grinning at her with a slightly creepy expression...

And she suddenly remembered where exactly she'd been sitting a few minutes ago. She'd been so sca—not scared... heroically worried—that she'd just clung to the nearest person. Who happened to be Arthur. And then she had somehow ended up sitting in his lap...

...How in the world had she ended up sitting there? She couldn't exactly remember.

But...Arthur hadn't screamed at her or anything. Even if they were fighting. Actually, he'd seemed to be attempting to comfort her... Not that she needed comfort, since heroes weren't scared of scary stories.

But... It had felt kind of nice.

"When I was much younger, I went to Japan to visit my oba—my aunt. She lives in a beautiful city and I greatly enjoyed the visit. However, one evening, my cousin, Mio-chan, and I wanted to go play in the park after nightfall. We went to ask my oba if we could and she told us no..."

Ally was not scared. Definitely not. Since nothing scary had even happened yet...

But it wouldn't be at all strange for someone else to be scared right now, since there was just something about Kiku's voice that made even those innocuous words send chills down your spin. Because he sounded so calm, so matter-of-fact. And his expression was completely blank. It was absolutely terrifying.

To, you know, someone like Gillian... Or the creepy commie. Or someone like that. Who wasn't heroic and all...

"She told us about a woman who had been seen on the streets around the park, a woman named Kuchisake-onna..."

Kiku now took a deep breath and shifted his weight, giving Ally just enough time to look around and notice that almost everyone in their group was now staring at the Japanese boy with interest; even Gillian was sitting more upright now... Feliciana was clinging to Ludwig's arm, her face buried against his bicep. He looked unsure of how to react to this...

"A few weeks before I arrived," Kiku continued, voice still as emotionless as before, "a boy had been walking home from a friend's house late at night—he had stayed out much later than he was supposed to and knew that his parents would be angry with him when he came home. He had made it about halfway home when he heard a soft, faint noise coming from a nearby alley. Now, instead of continuing on his way, he turned to investigate and was surprised to see a beautiful woman standing in the alley..."

...Arthur needed protection. Ally made this decision quite quickly. Arthur definitely needed protection, and since she was heroic, she was definitely the one who should protect him. Which was why she had suddenly moved closer to him.

"This woman had long, black hair and was dressed in a beige trench coat with a surgical mask covering the lower half of her face..." He paused for a moment. "It's common to wear surgical masks in Japan during the influenza season in order to prevent the spread of germs..."

At this, Kiku shifted his weight again, casting a look back toward someone else…Ally wasn't sure who—and then continued, "The boy stopped as she stepped right out of the shadows and stood in front of him. Then she murmured quietly, 'Am I beautiful?'"

"Now, this boy thought that she was probably the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen, so he immediately answered, 'Yes' without another thought."

"She didn't react for a moment, but then she suddenly reached up to her mask and tore it away. Revealing the most horrifying sight that he had ever seen. The woman's mouth has been sliced from ear to ear; her mouth gaped open as he stared at her in horror to reveal rows of sharp teeth and a tongue that twisted and twirled inside. And then she screamed, her voice gurgling horribly 'Am I beautiful _now_?'"

Ally could barely breathe. Her entire body was trembling as she stared in horror at the still-calm boy. And she was clinging to something that was attempting to squirm away…

"The boy was frozen in terror and tried to think of how to answer. If he told her 'no', then she would definitely kill him. If he tried to run, then she would chase him down and then murder him. So he immediately took a deep breath and answered 'Yes, you are beautiful'."

"The woman, again, did not answer immediately. Instead, she reached into the pocket of her trench coat, and then removed a pair of scissors. Scissors that dripped blood onto the pavement, pooling near their feet. 'Well…' she hissed, 'then you should look as beautiful as me!' She stepped closer to the paralyzed boy… Raising her scissors…"

"Allison, get off of me!"

"No! Ludwig!"

"Stop clinging to me, aru!"

And that's when the circle erupted into complete chaos, as about half of the group members violently attached themselves to the other members with screams of terror, which were often matched by shouts of surprise from those who had been suddenly attacked.

Ally was now only vaguely aware of the fact that almost the entirety of her body was tightly pressed against something warm. Which was attempting to move her away… Which she wasn't about to do, since then the scissor-lady would jump out and kill her everyone else and there was no way she was doing that! So she just clung tighter and suddenly whispered, without really thinking about _what _she was whispering, "Artie…"

"Allison!" And now she realized that she was holding onto Arthur… Which… They should get out of here before the scary scissors-lady killed them all! She had to be a hero… Once she stopped unheroically shaking…

"Allison, get off of me! It's just a story!"

"Ah, ma cherí. Why don't you cling to _moi _instead? Ow~!"

"Fuck off, Francis."

Ally lifted her head slightly at this, looking up into a pair of slighty-unfocused green eyes that now turned from their glaring at Francis to stare down at her. Green eyes which seemed rather exasperated.

"Al, it was just a ghost story. It didn't really happen..."

"But Kiku said it did!" Her arms tightened around Arthur's shoulders as she glanced around. Okay, she had to think logically. There had to be a way to escape from the scary scissors-lady. They were sitting ducks out here. So they had to find somewhere to hide. They could use the commie and evil albino as sacrifices...

"Kiku was just attempting to make it feel more reali—"

But he suddenly cut himself off, as a wave of terror shot through Ally's back as she stared off toward the forest... And now she unconsciously moved even closer to him, her legs twisting behind his back as she pulled herself higher into his lap.

Okay, so maybe she was a little scared. Just a teeny. Tiny. Bit. Terrified...

"Al..." And Arthur gasped out her name suddenly, attempting to push her away again. She just clung more tightly as she buried her face against his chest.

And maybe she was crying just a little tiny bit.

"Al—Alli—Allison!"

Okay, so maybe she was really scared.

"Oh, bloody—Allison!"

But it wasn't her fault! It was the stupid evil sister-molesting albino!

* * *

A/N: Mmmm, I don't like this chapter all that much. But... Holy cow, incorporating that story was so hard... o.O I was not expecting it to be that difficult... (Note to self to not do that again xD)

And yes, that's a real Japanese urban legend. You can look it up if you want the whole story. I kind of added some stuff to make it a better 'campfire' story... Meh... I don't know. I think it would've been easier to just make up my own story, but... whatever.

Anyway, so... Haha! Arthur~ xD I love making Arthur have awkward moments. And Ally have oblivious moments. Because they're adorable like that.


	26. Chapter 26: Gillian

A/N: The song that Gilly is singing in the beginning of this chapter is "Burn It to the Ground" by Nickelback. Which is the song that I totally associate with that Bad Touch Trio ;D

* * *

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 26**

Gillian was incredibly excited right now. Super awesomely excited. Since she'd totally beasted that American pansy with her awesome ghost story-telling skills last night! Which was why she was currently celebrating by jumping on top of the single bed in her cabin, singing at the top of her lungs...

"We're going out tonight! Hey! To kick out every light! Hey! Take anything we want! Hey! Take everything in sight! Hey...!"

"Gilly, cher..." But then Francis interrupted her, which totally wasn't awesome, since she was just getting to the best part of the song. Although he did flash her an apologetic smile when she stopped bouncing in order to stare at him. "As much as we love to listen to you sing, aren't we supposed to be strategizing for the competition today?"

Ah, yeah. Gillian had almost forgotten about that. She glanced around the space, mentally going over her list of teammates. Ludwig and Feliciana were seated in chairs right beside the bed that she was currently using as a make-shift trampoline; Feli's chair was scooted as close to Ludwig's as possible, of course. Francis was seated on Mattie's bed, an open magazine resting on his lap. Heracles was dozing on one of the unoccupied beds with the frying pan bitch sitting beside him.

Even Natalya was here, sitting on her own bed. And sharpening a knife...

Meaning that the only person on their team that wasn't present was Arthur. Which was totally unawesome. She'd have to yell at him later for that.

Anyway. Back to the matter at hand. Gill bent down a little so she could bounce especially high. Then once she'd reached her maximum height, she lifted her legs so she fell right onto her back, the impact bouncing her back up a few inches. She immediately giggled at the sensation and then rolled onto her side in order to look over the rest of her awesome team again.

Or almost awesome team... It would be more awesome if the frying pan bitch wasn't here. But, you couldn't have everything.

"We don't need to!" she exclaimed, reaching her hand out to poke her brother's knee. He sent her an irritated glare, which she ignored. He wasn't going to move and do anything, since Feliciana happened to be falling asleep on his shoulder.

Which was so super cute! Feli was like the cutest person in the entire world. She totally had to win her bet, since those two would seriously have the _cutest baby ever_! And then she could be an aunty and teach her little nephew or niece all about being awesome.

Now that she thought about it—she pouted slightly as the thought darted through her mind—Ally's challenge had totally distracted her from her initial matchmaking plan. She should definitely get back on that or she'd lose. Since Luddy was so clueless that it'd take him _forever _to actually realize that he loved Feli unless she helped.

But, right now, she had to concentrate on proving that she could date Mattie. No matter what Ally thought. "Because today we're playing flag football! And then we're playing tug-of-war, which I'm totally awesome at. There's no way that we can lose!"

"And why do you say that?" And frying pan bitch cut in, glaring across the room at Gill as she folded her arms over her chest in a 'you're so stupid' sort of posture.

And this was why Gillian didn't want to have Elizaveta on their team. Besides the obvious fact that they hated each other—had since fifth grade—there was the additional factor that Lizzy was completely unawesome and therefore couldn't possibly understand how absolutely amazing her plans really were.

She crossed her arms over her own chest and glared right back. "Well, frying pan bitch, it really should be _obvious _if you'd just think about it for a little bit. We're playing _flag _football. You do know what _flag _football is, don't you?"

The two girls were now glaring at each other, their expressions similar to those of two giant cats about to leap for the other's throat. Gill probably would have jumped at her _darling relation_ if it weren't for the fact that she knewthat Lizzy had a dangerous weapon stashed away in her knapsack. And she was a very very fast draw.

After a few more seconds of attempting to stare the other down, Lizzy turned away, glancing over toward the sleeping-Feli before remarking, in a forcibly calm and reasonable voice, "Yes, I know what flagfootball is. But what does that have to do with choosing to strategize or not?"

Gill grinned slightly at the question and sat upright, leaning forward slightly and continuing in her best attempt at Arthur's accent. "Well, first off, Luddy here," she reached over and smacked her brother on the back, startling him from his silent contemplation of Feliciana's hair—probably attempting to decide whether he should attempt to remove the cascade from his shoulder or not. "He's totally built like a tank, so he can easily smash through any offense that Ally's set up." She paused for a moment, thinking through the members of Ally's team. "He and Ivan would be a pretty equal match, but other than that, no one else really has a chance against him. So he'll be our quarterback! And we'll have him make the runs!"

Elizaveta frowned slightly at the remark. "_All _of the runs? And what are the rest of us supposed to do, twiddle our thumbs while watching Ludwig run down a field?"

"No." She rolled her eyes at the other girl's stupidity. "We distract everyone else! Everybody distracts everyone else, except for Francis, who will be defense!"

"Why?"

Francis glanced up from where he'd been flipping through his magazine, looking slightly startled at hearing his name mentioned. "Quoi?"

"In flag football, you don't tackle the person who's trying to make a touchdown. You just pull their flag off. And nobody's better at pulling people's belts off than Franny!"

Gillian now gazed around the room, her expression plainly revealing that she was incredibly proud of herself right now. After all, she'd come up with that plan all on her own. It was foolproof! Especially against any stupid plan that Ally would come up with.

Unfortunately, she'd forgotten just how unawesome most of her teammates were. As Luddy groaned and rested his face against his palm and the frying pan bitch started sliding her hand into the knapsack that Gillian knew held her frying pan of doom and despair.

Fortunately—for the frying pan bitch, since any argument that they got into would ultimately end in victory for awesome—the door suddenly slammed open. Revealing a very _very _exhausted-looking Arthur.

"Artie! You're late!" _Finally_. Where in the world had he been? Didn't Arthur realize that in order for them to win, they needed the entire team at their super secret planning sessions?

The British student stumbled inside; his movements slow and unsteady like a zombie. And he walked right over to the last free bed and flopped down on top of it, completely ignoring Gill's remark. Which was totally unawesome. How in the world could anyone ignore _her_?

"Ah, cher~" And Francis immediately stood and walked over to the bed that Arthur had just taken, beaming down at him before sitting down on the empty space near his head. "You look tired. Did Ally keep you _up_ all night?"

Arthur groaned back in response and swatted at the French boy. "Fuck off, frog. Git hasn't let me out of her sight since last night..."

Feliciana apparently had woken up at Arthur's entrance and was now sitting upright, watching him with wide, slightly sleepy eyes. "Ve~ were you with Ally?"

"He's been with Ally since last night." Gill sat up and beamed across the room at where Arthur had rolled over and was now glaring at her through a slit eyelid. A look that plainly read 'don't even start'.

Last night had been pretty hilarious. After the horror story contest—which she had totally beasted at, by the way—they'd gone back to their cabins. Although not necessarily to their own _beds_.

Natalya hadn't been in the cabin when they came in, not a surprise. She was probably out stalking Ivan or something... Feliciana and Lovina had been the first to go to sleep, Feliciana _begging _her sister to share a bed with her. Lovina had been grouchy about it, of course, but she'd ended up giving in. Not surprising, since no one could resist Feliciana when she turned on those big puppy eyes.

They'd curled up together on Feliciana's bed bottom bunk. Looking insanely cute together, since they'd fallen asleep with their arms wrapped around each other. Feli's face had been buried against her sister's chest, Lovi's cheek against her sister's hair. Gill had taken pictures, which she'd have to make sure to give to Tonio at some point.

She and Mattie had ended up sharing a bed a bed too. Not because the awesome Gillian Beilschmidt was scared, of course. But hey, if everyone else was sleeping in someone else's bed, then she and her girlfriend should totally get to sleep together!

Not in that way, _pervert_. Like they'd try anything with Ally in the same room with them. Yeah, she'd been too traumatized by the story to notice that the two of them were sleeping in the same bed, but she wasn't _that _oblivious.

Anyway, moving on. So the Vargas girls had shared a bed, she'd shared a bed with Mattie. And they'd even had an extra guest. Namely, Arthur. Who'd ended up getting dragged into the cabin by a terrified, trembling Ally. And she'd actually started crying when he tried to leave. So he'd ended up spending the entire night getting squeezed to death by the American girl.

"I couldn't even go and take a piss without the git standing outside the door and then latching onto my arm as soon as I got back outside." Arthur was still grumbling. "I'm going to bloody _murder _Kiku when I see him."

And Heracles was suddenly sitting up, wide awake, glaring toward where Arthur was lying with a surprisingly intense expression on his face. Which startled everyone else enough that they just stared right back.

Except for Arthur, who had closed both of his eyes and was still grumbling to himself. "He knows that the git is terrified of horror stories. She's probably going to be like this for the next few weeks. Thank God for Mattie or I never would have gotten away."

Gill had never realized that Heracles had the ability to get irritated at someone who wasn't Sadiq.

This could be _incredibly _useful information.

"Ah, but didn't you enjoy the lovely lap dance that she gave you last night, mon cher?" Francis chuckled, starting to lean down over Arthur's body. "I imagine that you _enjoyed it _quite a bit, non?"

And then two things happened in the next few seconds.

First off, a sudden bright light flashed from the frying pan bitch's direction. And Gill turned to see her holding a small digital camera in one hand, a tissue pressed to her nose by the other. Her eyes almost the size of dinner plates.

Secondly, Arthur suddenly jerked his knee up in an extremely fast and extremely _precise _motion. Pow! Right in the crown jewels! And then, before Francis even had a chance to start crying like a girl. Another pow! Right hook! Right to Francis's nose. And he was _down_. Whimpering in agony.

"Fucking bloody perverted frog!"

Awesome! This was going to be the most awesome game of flag football ever!

* * *

A/N: ...Gill. Gill Gill Gill.

Hehe. I love Arthur and Francis so much. ;D

Hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving! I had a lovely time. Went out on Black Friday and got myself a PS2. And I've spent the past few days playing intense amounts of Resident Evil 4. Hehe ;D Fun times. Fun times. I have decided that that game is one of the best stress relievers ever~ Except for the parts where you're fighting guys with chainsaws with only a knife because you ran out of bullets... Then it's rather stressful in and of itself...


	27. Chapter 27: Antonio

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 27**

Antonio was finding it hard to concentrate on Ally's speech, since he really had no idea what ninety percent of what she was saying meant. Block, fumble, drive, quarterback, lineman, blitz... That last one made him think of his last history class. Something about World War II? He hadn't really been paying too much attention in that class, since Lovi had been sitting right in front of him for most of the year...

"All right, guys!" And he suddenly jerked back to attention, as the American girl's voice rose above its previous volume to one that was rather reminiscent of a coach attempting to pump his team up. "We are gonna _beat_ that albino freak! Who's with me?"

The complete lack of response from her surrounding teammates was deafening.

For a moment, she just stood there, on top of the picnic table that she'd turned into an impromptu stage. Then she stomped her foot in irritation. "You guys suck! I want a new team!"

"Perhaps I could help convince them to lose, da?" Ivan piped up, smiling up at her with a completely innocent look. A completely innocent look that sent shivers down everyone's spines. Especially when he raised a pipe—that Antonio hadn't even noticed he'd been carrying—into sight.

"No!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared over all of them with a disappointed glare. "You're a creepy commie who'll end up getting us all disqualified!"

"Allison-san..." And now Kiku dared to speak up, although his voice trembled slightly as he did so. Particularly when she turned on him with an irritated _look_. "Ah, perhaps it would be best if you explained your plan in simpler terms so everyone can understand? We are not all so... knowledgeable... about the game as you are."

Ally pouted for a moment at this remark, glancing over the rest of their teammates with a frown.

Antonio followed her eyes, noting everyone's expressions. Yao was sitting on a bench, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else than here. Yong Soo was sitting beside him, bouncing up and down excitedly; Ivan was sitting on his opposite side, just smiling as he tapped his pipe against the ground. Kiku, Sadiq, and Mattie were seated on another bench, Mattie staring over toward the football field with a rather nervous expression, Sadiq glaring toward where Heracles was napping on a bench on the other side of the field, and Kiku watching Ally.

"Fine." And now Ally sighed as she jumped down from the bench. "Just...if you get the ball, run toward those posts at the end of the field. If you think that someone's about to rip your flag off, then pass it to someone who's open. Preferably either me or the creepy commie. Got it?"

Now she was answered by a variety of nods, including one from Antonio.

That didn't sound hard at all! Why had she used all of those confusing terms if it was that easy?

"Okay, so let's go!" And now she was running toward the team. "We're gonna beat that albino freak once and for all!"

~.~.~

This game was _not_ that easy...

"Désolé, Antoine!"

"Hey! That's totally not fair! You're only supposed to pull their flag off! Not their actual belt!"

Antonio didn't really like this game. People were constantly running around and yelling and it was very _very _confusing. All he knew was that he was currently holding the ball in his hands. Yong Soo had thrown it to him and he'd somehow managed to catch it. But then Francis had come out of _nowhere _and had tugged both the yellow flag belt and his _actual _belt away.

And now Francis was standing a few feet away, giggling in amusement as Antonio stood there, unsure what he was supposed to do right now. Was he supposed to throw the ball to someone else? Or drop it? Or maybe he was supposed to give it to Franny?

"Ah..."

"Objection!" But suddenly Ally was standing beside him, one hand settled on her hip, the other pointing an accusing finger toward the French student. "That's against the rules!"

"Oui?" Francis was still snickering as he waved Antonio's two belts around. "Antoine, cher, your pantalon fell..."

Antonio glanced down, rather surprised to see that his pants were currently settled in a heap around his ankles, revealing a pair of tomato-printed boxers to the world. Huh... He wondered how he hadn't noticed that... Then again, lots of things happened to him that he often didn't notice, so it didn't really surprise him all that much.

"Put your pants back on, stupid bastard!" And now he turned his head to see Lovina glaring at him from where she was sitting on a bench nearby, her cheeks tomato red... Which was so cute!

"Sí, Lovi!" Antonio hurriedly bent down obediently, wondering vaguely why people were suddenly whistling. And Lovina was screaming lots and lots of bad words at someone. She shouldn't do that. It wasn't near as cute as when she was blushing like an adorable little tomato...

And now Gillian was stomping over from where she'd been whispering to her brother about something, stopping in front of Allison and glaring at her irritably. "What are you yelling about? Francis got the belt off, right?"

"You can't pull off both belts! That's against the rules!"

Antonio wished that they wouldn't start fighting. This was supposed to be a fun game to play with your friends! Besides, he didn't really care if Francis stole his belt. He did it all the time, after all... It was like how Franny said hello!

"All right. All right." Now Mr. Roma suddenly walked over from where he'd been sitting next to Mr. Beilschmidt, referring the game. Stepping between the girls and holding his arms out in a peace-making gesture. "Don't fight, girls... And Francis..." Francis flashed him a charming smile in response. "Let's only pull at the _flag _belt from now on. We'll give Gillian's team a penalty..." Allison stuck her tongue out at the other girl, who glared back in response. "And we'll have Antonio make the penalty kick!"

"Huh?" Allison's cocky smirk disappeared at this, as she turned toward Mr. Roma. "But that isn't how penalties wor—" Mr. Roma interrupted her by holding his hand out in a 'don't argue' motion.

Antonio really had no idea what was going on, but he hurriedly straightened up—or, he straightened up as much as he could while simultaneously attempting to hold his pants up with one hand—when Mr. Roma bent down, picked up the ball that Antonio had dropped at some point during this conversation, and turned toward him.

He held the ball toward him with a bright smile. "You think you can do that, Toni?"

"Sí!" He had no idea what he was supposed to do, but that wasn't really important, sí? He was sure that he could figure it out.

"All right." And now Mr. Roma started walking toward the goal post, Antonio following him like an excited little puppy. "All you have to do is stand here and try to kick the ball through those posts up there."

And now Antonio looked up...

...

And felt his stomach sink a little bit. As he noticed...that the goal posts were rather high in the air.

"You think you can do it, Tonio? We only have about another minute left in the game... No one's scored yet. You could win the game for your team!" Mr. Roma sounded rather excited about this.

Antonio wasn't entirely sure that he was quite so excited.

He glanced over toward the bench where Lovi was sitting, staring at him with wide eyes. Looking prettier than anyone on earth should ever look.

His beautiful prometida~

If Antonio made the kick, then he could win the game. If he won the game, then imagine how proud Lovi would be of him! He could win the game for his adorable little Lovi!

And that was all Antonio needed. He turned back toward Mr. Roma with a wide smile. "Sí!"

"Good! Good!" Mr. Roma patted him on the back. A lot harder than Antonio had expected. It managed to knock him off balance a little bit. "Win the game for your team!"

He walked away.

Leaving Antonio staring down at the funny-shaped ball.

...He was going to do this for Lovi!

Antonio now took a few steps back, preparing himself for the kick. He was going to kick the football right through those posts! And then Lovi would be super proud of him and maybe she'd even give him a kiss!

That thought almost completely distracted him from his task... Imagining Lovi running up to him after he won the game, giving him a sweet, loving kiss... But then he heard a very familiar shout that snapped him out of it...

"Hurry up, you stupid bastard! I want to go to lunch!"

That was all that Antonio needed to hear. He took a deep breath, stared at the football for a moment, and then looked up toward the goal post.

And froze again. As he suddenly saw someone standing back behind the goal posts. Standing behind a tree a little ways away.

Someone very _very _familiar.

_Very familiar_...

Antonio wasn't mentally aware of the next few moments. He ran forward, hardly even paying attention to the football as his leg drew back. And then he kicked it. He kicked it harder than he'd ever kicked anything before.

"Ooh!"

"Bloody hell!"

"Like, look at that ball like totally go, Toris!"

"Fuck yeah! Score one for the Team Hero!"

"Hey, where's Tonio going?"

"Antoine?"

"Chigi~! You aren't supposed to keep running, bastard!"

Someone _very very very _familiar...

* * *

A/N: Yay, Tonio! You won the game for Team Hero! ;D (Well, unless they decided to keep playing, but we can safely assume that they'll stop since they just lost one of their players.)

Who wants to guess who it was that Antonio saw at the end?

And, oh gosh... Why did I choose flag football when I know practically nothing about the sport? xD Haha. But Tonio's clueless too, so it's all right. And it's not really supposed to follow real flag football rules, so it's okay. Yes... Because I say so.


	28. Chapter 28: Antonio Cont

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 28**

It couldn't have been him. That bastard wouldn't _dare _show his face around here after what he did. You would have to be a complete _idiot_ to show your face after doing something like that to someone as precious as Lovina.

Antonio was vaguely aware of voices calling his name. They were muffled, though, and he really didn't care to answer them. No, every thought and intention now was trained on following that bastard.

He was going to kill him. He'd kill him and then he'd hunt the other one down and kill him too.

The boy had immediately darted off, as soon as he saw Antonio running towards him. He'd run off—_coward_—into the forest, losing himself amongst the trees. Antonio had followed, but he, unfortunately, didn't know the area as well. So now, he was just wandering around, sharp eyes searching for any sign of the other boy, listening carefully for any sound that would alert him to his position.

"Amigo, where are you hiding?" He kept his voice light and airy and happy, even if he really felt like absolutely destroying the other boy. He could have _killed _Lovina... He could have killed Lovina and she would have been gone forever. And there hadn't been a reason either. He would have killed her just because he could...

And Antonio was startled by a soft crack from behind him. Like a twig being stepped on. He spun around...

And was immediately down, an intense pain spreading from his jaw throughout his entire face.

For a moment, he just lay there, attempting to figure out what had just happened. And then... he'd just been punched.

The boy was standing in front of him, smirking down. The blond... Drew. Not the one that had pushed Lovina into the pond, but he hadn't stopped him.

"Hey, Spic. You wanna fight?"

Antonio blinked up at him for a few seconds, rubbing at his jaw. It didn't feel broken, thankfully, but it would definitely end up bruising.

He really didn't like fighting. His Mamá had always told him that fighting was wrong and that he should try to talk out his differences. He'd always try as hard as he could to keep from getting into fights... Partly because of that and partly because... sometimes he lost control of himself when he got into fights. Especially when the fights involved protecting Lovi or Francis or Gill.

But, he couldn't get out of this one. Because this boy and his friend had hurt Lovi... Could have killed his precious Lovinita.

Antonio slowly rose to his feet at this, taking his time as he stared at the other boy, sizing him up. They were pretty equally matched height-wise, probably weight-wise...

"Come on, Spic." Drew was standing with both fists raised in something that looked like a mock-fight pose. More like he was mimicking movements that he'd seen done by actual fighters than like he actually knew what he was doing. Antonio frowned, hesitating...

And then the boy suddenly darted forward and took another swing towards his head.

Antonio ducked without really thinking, spinning his own arm out to block the punch. He was very glad now that his uncle had taught him how to fight when he was younger, telling him that—even if he never used it—it was important to know how to defend himself and people he loved.

The boy whirled around and swung again, barely allowing himself time to recover. Antonio blocked, taking a step back to better balance himself.

"Come on, fucking Spic. You gonna just stand there like a fucking pussy or ya gonna fight me?" He snorted and then spat onto the forest floor. "Or are you disappointed that your slut girlfriend isn't here to watch you get your ass kicked?"

And that was it.

Antonio now darted forward, much faster than the other boy had probably expected, and slammed a fist right into his cheek. Which probably would have knocked him to the ground if it weren't for the tree behind him, which he used to catch himself.

Drew just stood there for a moment, looking rather surprised. And then he lifted his head and flashed him an amused smirk. "Huh, you pissed 'cause I called your girl a slut?"

Antonio was barely aware of his own actions in the next few seconds. He knew that he started running forward to punch him again, this time right in that smug expression...

But he was stopped in his tracks when something hard suddenly smashed into the back of his head, hard enough that he immediately fell onto his knees... possibly blacked out for a few seconds.

"Come on, Spic. Get up. You wanna make your whore proud, right?"

He'd just hit him with something... That was the only fact that was managing to make its way through Antonio's mind. That and the fact that he kept insulting Lovi. Calling her a whore. Sweet, lovely Lovi. No one should talk about her like that. And he was having trouble focusing... There was something in front of him, shining amongst the dirt and rocks...

He slowly reached forward, grabbing at the object. A piece of metal, rusted and jagged... Part of something at some point in its life. He vaguely wondered what it had been...

"Get up and fight us, fucking Spic!"

He could barely think, fury starting to take over. One of the only things managing to break through the pain throbbing through his head. They'd hurt Lovi. They kept insulting her. He was going to kill them.

Now, he stood, a little unsteady on his feet. His fingers clenching around the rusted piece of metal. Ignoring as it cut into his palm...

Rick was standing a few feet away, holding a thick branch in his hands like a baseball bat. Smirking. Taunting. The other was back in his fighting position...

And he ran forward again, toward Rick. The one who had kissed Lovi. Who had thrown her back into the pond. Tried to kill her. The boy swung, but he hit it out of his hands and then slashed the jagged metal across his arm.

"Ow! What the fu—!"

He could see red, dripping from the long gash across almost the entire line of his bicep. He turned, slicing again. This time across his cheek...

And someone was trying to grab him from behind. Managed to throw an arm across his windpipe, forcing his head backward as his air was cut off. Both were screaming. One pained... Antonio could see red dripping down his pale cheek...

"That fucking bastard has a knife!"

Drew was attempting to wrestle the piece of metal from him, but he fought back, kicking and struggling. Attempting to free himself... To breathe.

And he finally managed to break free, strength fuelled by a rush of adrenaline. And he immediately spun around, striking again. Blood again. A harsh yelp of pain...

And now he could hear another voice, shouting. Someone grabbed him again, this time around the waist. Holding him tightly, yelling at him, the words incomprehensible. He struggled, lashing out... The arms squeezed tighter, but he heard a harsh hiss from behind as he managed to cut at the arms holding him. They refused to release.

"...Antoine! Antoine! It's me, Francis! Antoine! Calm down!"

Francis... He kept struggling. The name sounded familiar. Francis... Struggles weakened. Francis...

"Antoine..."

Franny.

And now they ceased. Suddenly Franny... Francis was here, holding him. Hands now moving up to his arms, gently rubbing as he crooned to him soothingly.

"Antoine, it's me. You're all right."

Franny...

"Let me have it, Antoine?"

And he immediately released the piece of metal when a hand pressed against his fist. He hadn't even been aware that he was still holding it, even though it had cut into his fist. His hand was now sticky with blood...

"I'm here, Antoine. Shh..."

The other boys were gone. He could see now; his vision had become hazy in his rage, but now he could see that they were standing alone. He just stood there for a moment, breathing heavily. And then he turned his head to see Francis standing behind.

"Fran—"

A finger pressed against his lips, cutting him off. And Francis smiled slightly. Tenderly. "Non. Non. It's okay. They attacked you, oui? It's okay. You were just trying to defend yourself..."

"S—sí..."

"We'll go back to the others now, oui? And we can look at your hand."

And Francis's arm was cut too. Antonio's eyes were immediately drawn to the gash standing out against his pale skin. Blood slowly seeping out... He'd hurt Francis. He'd hurt—

"Non." And suddenly his chin was being pushed upwards, forcing him to look into his friend's eyes. Away from the wound and blood. "Non. That wasn't your fault, Antoine. It's nothing. We'll go and get it all fixed like new, oui?"

Antonio nodded, unsure exactly how to respond, his eyes still drawn back to the wound that he'd just inflicted upon his best friend...

But then his hand was being squeezed gently in Francis's grip. And he was being almost-forcibly dragged away, leaving him with nothing to do but follow. Follow as he felt his stomach twist nervously in a mixture of fear, horror, and shame.

"It'll be okay, mon cher. Everything will be okay."

* * *

A/N: Yep, I brought Rick and Drew back. Because you guys kept asking about them. Yeah... I kind of had forgotten about them, actually. Haha.

And, obviously, it was another scene from Antonio's POV. Because it worked out best that way, since otherwise, it was supposed to be Feli and it wouldn't have really worked near as well...

And I finally got to write a fight scene in this! Haha. Although poor Tonio :( Oh, and Spic is a racial slur that refers to someone of Hispanic origin.

Oh, and here's a question for you guys. So a few of my friends have been asking me to put Leon and Johnson from Round & Round into this story. Which I wasn't planning on doing, but I figured I'd leave it up to you guys. There is a way that I could do it (which would be easy and wouldn't affect length or anything), so if people want me to put them in, they could make a short appearance...


	29. Chapter 29: Feliciana

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 29**

"Where _is_ that bastard?"

Feliciana was really _really _hungry right now. It was time for lunch after all. And she wasn't used to having to wait when it was time for food. But that's what she and her sister were currently doing, sitting out on the porch in front of the dining hall, and waiting for Antonio to come back from wherever he had run off to after he'd made the kick that won the game for Ally's team…

Gill hadn't been very happy about that.

"Ve~ Lovi," she attempted to cut into her sister's rambling mumbles. "Maybe Tonio decided that he didn't want to eat dinner?" Feliciana really wanted to eat dinner. It was so _mean_ how she could _smell _it. It wasn't pasta; that would be completely unbearable. But it _was_ pizza, which was one of her other favourite foods.

Lovina didn't even seem to hear her, just like she hadn't heard any of Feliciana's other remarks. She just kept pacing back and forth, back and forth, her wooden-soled sandals tip-tapping against the wooden floor every time she took a step.

Feliciana sighed in response, leaning her head back against her seat as she attempted to not breathe in the delicious smell wafting through the window above her head. She also had to ignore the sound of people talking and laughing—and Gillian complaining about how they shouldn't have lost.

"Stupid bastard probably got lost in the woods." Lovina continued with her tirade, ignoring that her companion was dying of hunger right beside her. "And that French pervert isn't back yet, either. Maybe they both got lost…"

Pepperoni pizza. And cheese pizza. And garlic pizza. And she was pretty sure that she could smell meatball pizza too. Feli wondered if Lovi would notice if she went inside for just a few seconds; just to get a teeny-tiny slice of pizza…

"Um, Feliciana?"

And that voice managed to startle both of them out of their respective dazes. And they turned, almost in perfect unison, to see Ludwig standing in the doorway of the dining hall. Hands occupied by two plates filled with slices of pizza.

"I noticed that you weren't coming in for dinner, so I thought that I would bring out something for you. Otherwise it would be gone before you came in." And the words were said so quickly that Feliciana had to struggle to catch them all.

Once she'd managed to catch them all, though, her face lit up in joy and she hurriedly scooted over, patting the seat beside her. "Ve~! That's so nice of you, Ludwig! Isn't that nice of Ludwig, sorella?"

Lovi just ignored them, still pacing as she muttered to herself irritably. Feliciana chose not to listen to what she was saying, since the things that Lovina mumbled to herself usually weren't very nice things. Instead, she reached up and took one of the plates of pizza from Ludwig, smiling at him brightly as he slowly sat down on the bench.

"Ve~" She immediately scooted close again; she liked to sit close to Ludwig. He was nice and warm and he looked super adorable when he turned red. "Lovi's worried because Antonio hasn't come back."

Ludwig stared at her for a moment in response, before turning away, his cheeks turning that adorable pinkish colour. "Ah… I'm sure that he'll come back soon…?" He sounded like he wasn't really sure.

And suddenly Lovina jerked out of her angry mumbling, stomped over and stole Ludwig's plate of pizza, munching down on a piece with a lot more force than necessary. "Ugh, that stupid bastard! I'm going to have to go find the idiot. He better not have gotten himself hurt, because if he did, then I'm going to kill him!"

Feliciana wondered why Lovi would want to kill Tonio, especially if he was already hurt. And she'd stolen poor Ludwig's pizza. Although that was okay; she and Ludwig could always share!

She was about to ask if Lovi would want her to help her look for Antonio, but then she was interrupted by a sudden call of "Bonjour, mes amis! Sorry that we're late. We ran into a little bit of trouble."

And she turned. To see Antonio and Francis standing at the end of the porch, Francis rubbing at his arm while smiling up at her and Antonio… Antonio was just standing there. Not smiling, not looking at them.

Her eyes immediately widened in a mixture of surprise and worry. What? Why wasn't Antonio smiling? Antonio was always smiling, especially when he saw Lovi. But he wasn't even _looking _at Lovi right now. He was just looking at the ground, his expression looking like he'd been caught doing something wrong…

And suddenly Lovina was running down the porch, having thrust the plate of pizza right back into Ludwig's hands. Almost causing him to drop it…

"Where the hell were you?" And she slid to a stop right in front of him, grabbing his wrists in a hurried motion. "I was wor—I mean, you made me wait for lunch, stupid! Not that I was waiting for you, but…but… Chigi~! Where were you?"

But Antonio didn't answer. He still wasn't looking at her. Feliciana felt _really _worried now. Something must be wrong with Antonio! Was he hurt or sick or… She suddenly felt the seat move slightly as Ludwig stood up, just pausing long enough to hand her his plate of pizza before walking over toward Francis.

"Did something happen?"

Francis tapped his fingers lightly against his arm in response, staring up at Ludwig as he chewed his bottom lip for a few seconds. Then he smiled brightly and shook his head. "Non, nothing big… Just… We ran into some unsavoury characters, oui." And now he turned to face Feliciana, sending her an even brighter smile. "Feli, cher, why don't you get Arthur for me? Just tell him that I need to talk to him for a few minutes, oui?"

Feliciana pouted in response. But she wanted to stay out here and find out why Antonio was acting weird. He'd been acting weird for a long time, but before it had been like he was very very happy. Now he was acting like something bad had happened. Lovina seemed worried now too, as she'd dropped his wrists and taken a quick step back, staring at him in surprise.

"Ve~ okay, Francis," she responded reluctantly. But she would help, even if she'd rather stay out here.

Except that she didn't have to, since the door suddenly opened. And out walked Arthur and Ally and Mattie and Gillian. "There you gits are. We were wondering what happ—"

But then they were interrupted by Lovina's sudden shout, which apparently finally jerked Antonio out of his stupor, as he jumped in surprise. "What did you do to your hands!"

"Lo—Lovi?"

She was now holding one of his hands in hers, staring at the palm with a look of horror. "Fuck, what did you do? Your hand is all—" And she trailed off, reaching out to gently run her finger over his palm. And then she suddenly dropped it so she could grab the other hand and drag him after her as she started speed-walking in the opposite direction.

"Lo—Lovi? Where are we—?"

"To the nurse's station, idiot! Where else?"

"B—but…"

She ignored him and Feliciana hurriedly stood up, setting the plates onto the bench. "Ve~ I'm coming too!" She had to find out what was happening with Antonio, after all.

Although… She hesitated for a moment. Maybe she should bring the pizza with her. After all, pizza was good for making people feel better. Not as good as pasta, but it was pretty close.

She bent over and picked up the plates again, then hurried after her sister and Antonio. "Ve~ wait, sorella!"

* * *

A/N: Quick updates are quick. Hope you guys all had a Happy Christmas! Mine was quite awesome. :) I got an awesome hat that I'm currently wearing and gorgeous Eiffel Tower earrings. I think Francis would be proud :D

So your response to the Leon and Johnson question in the last chapter rather surprised me. I didn't expect so many people to want them to show up xD Lol. It was almost unanimous.

So, ok. They'll pop up for a little bit. Next chapter. And even if you don't read R&R, you shouldn't be too confused, since the POV character won't know them either. ;D (Now you can guess who that's going to be…)

And I won't give away what happens in R&R. Besides what's already obviously going to happen… (Ex. Arthur isn't a punk anymore, so he's not Mr. 'All Cops deserve to be shot on sight' at this point). Oh, and where the kids are isn't in their jurisdiction, so they can't arrest anyone… For those who were guessing that that was the route I was going.

For those who didn't want them to show up… It'll just be for a little bit and it actually does help the story, the more that I think about it.


	30. Chapter 30: Mattea

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 30**

Mattie sometimes hated being one of the few voices of reason amongst her friends. "So, you saw one of the guys who threw Lovina into the lake and put her in the hospital. One of them attacked you with a stick or board or something like that, so you grabbed a piece of metal off of the ground and stabbed them with it?"

Antonio looked miserable as he nodded, twisting his hands together in a fidgety, nervous motion. Which Francis seemed to notice, as he immediately scooted behind the other boy and wrapped his arms around him comfortingly, resting his chin on his shoulder as he sent a slightly-warning look toward Mattie. "But then I came and stopped him before he did anything too bad, oui? Antoine was entirely justified in hurting them."

"Well, yes." She had to agree with that. Especially with what they did to Lovi. And they had attacked him first. "Still, though... Why haven't you guys told anybody? I mean, you probably should have called the police right after the thing with Lovi..."

"No." She was rather startled by the sudden, very sure remark coming from both Arthur and Francis, almost in perfect unison. Startled enough that she just sat there blinking, eyes flickering between the two. Francis, who was still seated behind Antonio and actually not trying to grope him for once, and Arthur, who was leaning against the wall a few feet away.

The group was currently seated in the nurse's station—the nurse herself had gone out for a few minutes to get something, leaving them with time to talk over what had happened. Antonio and Francis had both been patched up after having her go through their medical records about ten times to make sure they were up-to-date on their tetanus vaccinations. Then she, Arthur, Kiku, Ludwig, and Gillian (who had been messing with her phone for the past hour or so and didn't seem very interested in the conversation) had remained to find out exactly how they'd gotten injured. While Lovi, Feli, and Ally had been asked to go find Mr. Roma.

Lovina hadn't been very happy about her placement, but she'd gone without _too _much grumbling after Antonio pleaded.

"We don't need to involve any cops," Francis continued. "It will be easier for everyone if we just deal with this by ourselves. Antoine could still get into trouble, even if it was justified. Besides, I don't think that those boys will be bothering us anymore."

Antonio shrunk slightly into himself at Francis's words. And Francis hurriedly nuzzled his face against the other boy's neck.

"Why don't you think so?" Mattie watched Arthur out of the corner of her eye, completely confused by his remark. She would have thought that he would _want _the police to get involved. Make sure they did this the right way and everything.

And Francis immediately looked up with an evil, diabolical smirk. "Didn't you see how those boys were looking at our dear Katyusha? I think that Ivan was rather upset with them for looking at his sister like that, oui?"

Oh.

Well, that explained that.

She almost felt sorry for those boys.

Almost.

However, any pity that she might have felt was completely terrified out of her when Gillian, who had been quietly sitting beside her for the past however-long-they'd-been-here suddenly _squealed _at a volume that would probably end up causing permanent hearing damage and jerked out of her seat. "They're here! This is going to be so awesome!"

And then ran out of the room without another word. Almost running into a returning Ally in the process.

...Yep. That was her girlfriend.

"What the—?" And Ally just stood in the doorway for a moment, looking between her sister and the direction Gill had run. And then she beamed. "Hey, did you two finally break up?"

Mattie loved her sister. She really did. However, some of her remarks really made her want to throw a shoe at her.

"I think that Gilly is going to get someone," Francis replied. He'd disentangled himself from Antonio at Gillian's sudden exit and now was sitting upright, staring at the door with a confused expression. "Who was she talking about, though? She didn't mention that anyone else was coming..."

"You don't think she invited..._her_?" Arthur suddenly questioned, now inching farther from the door.

So did Ludwig, weirdly enough.

"I don't think so... I'm pretty sure that she would have mentioned something if Big Mike was coming."

Big Mike? Mattie felt like she had heard that name before. Probably from Gillian. Gill had a bad habit of throwing names around without really explaining who the name belonged to... It was somewhat annoying. And kind of cute, too.

"But then who else—?"Arthur paused mid-sentence, as Gill's voice rose from outside. Very loudly. She must be practically _yelling _at whoever was walking with her.

"And then Tonio kicked the ball and won the game for _her_! It was totally _totally _not awesome! Because my team is totally more awesome than _hers_. Although we totally _owned _at capture the flag! You should've seen Heracles; he nailed Sadiq right in the nose! And I told the most awesome ghost story ever! From that email that I sent you last week, remember? The one with the awesome scary story at the end? Anyway, and Allison totally _cried_! It was awesome!"

Someone must have responded, although she couldn't hear anything, since Gillian immediately continued with... "So you can meet Mattie! You totally haven't met Mattie yet! Plus, Tonio got hurt 'cause these jerks attacked him in the woods. So you should arrest them!"

And now Mattie saw everyone's expressions change. Ludwig immediately looked relieved; he'd been tensing during the conversation before about Big Mike, but now he looked much calmer. And almost a little happy. Arthur, on the other hand, had tensed up. Now looking slightly nervous... And he was staring at Ally now, as if hoping that she'd suddenly take the hint and leave.

Fat chance. Ally had walked inside the room, but was still watching the door with interest. "Wait, so what's going on? Who did the albino freak bring? The police? Is somebody getting arrested?" She looked more excited about the prospect than she should be. Not surprising. Ally had always been interested in police officers...and fire fighters...and anybody who was in one of those "heroic" jobs.

Francis had stood, expression...rather worrying actually. Since he looked positively thrilled. And was leering toward the doorway with an evil, mischievous, perverted smirk. "Ah, mon cher Gilly... She is un génie!"

"Wait, so who—" But Mattie didn't get to finish her question, as the door was suddenly pushed open.

And one of the most intimidating men that Mattie had ever laid eyes on was suddenly standing in the doorway.

Even more intimidating than Berwald. And that was saying something.

He was huge. Six foot something; he'd had to duck slightly just to step through the doorway. Brawny; he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that just emphasized the fact that he was _ripped_. Insanely ripped. He could probably bench press about a dozen of her. He was also tanned, had short, dark hair, and stubble that looked as if he'd left it there just to emphasize his incredible manliness... And he was also holding a lit cigarette in one hand, which he took a long draw from as he just _stared _at them with dark, emotionless eyes.

Oh, and he also had a gun strapped to his side.

She'd almost missed that, but now found her eyes magnetized to it.

Th—this was the guy that Gillian wanted to introduce her to? She shrunk back slightly as his eyes roamed around and landed on her. M—maybe he was nice? And just looked incredibly terrifying?

And suddenly he took a step to the side. To reveal Gillian standing behind, one hand clenched around her cell phone, the other squeezing the life out of some guy's arm.

...Very attractive guy.

...Of course that was the first thought that went through her head. Of _course_.

But... Well, he _was _good-looking. And older, probably early to mid-twenties? He was probably couple inches under six foot, his body well-toned from what she could see... Neat light brown—or maybe dirty blond—hair. And blue eyes, almost the same shade as Ally's, that suddenly met hers for a moment. Sizing her up? She nervously glanced toward her sister... Who was openly staring at him.

Actually, no. Not staring at him. Staring at where Gill's hand was clasped around his wrist...

Mattie didn't want to know what was going through her sister's mind. It would probably irritate her.

"Mattie!" And her thoughts were jerked out of wherever they'd been about to head when Gillian jerked forward, almost knocking the guy completely off-balance in her excitement. "Mattie! Leon, this is Mattie! Isn't she just as pretty as I said she was? No, isn't she _prettier _than I said she was?" And now she released the poor guy and threw herself at Mattie, who barely had time to prepare herself for the attack hug.

"Mattie, this is Leon! He's my awesome friend! And he's a cop! Isn't that cool?" Gill was talking at an insane rate, almost impossible for Mattie to keep up. "Although he said that he can't arrest the jerks who hurt Tonio. Which isn't awesome... But you two get to _finally _meet!"

Very excited girlfriend clinging to her in front of everyone plus random stranger equals rather flustered Mattie. "Um, that's great, Gill..."

And the man just shook his head slightly, looking rather amused by the whole thing. And then stretched his hand toward her with a slight smile. "So you're Mattie? I've heard a lot about you."

She immediately blushed at that, stretching out her hand in response. "Um, really?" He had one of those firm handshakes. Which was a good sign, right? Maybe... She couldn't really remember.

He nodded, and then took a step back. "I'm Leon Kennedy. That's my partner, Johnson." He pointed toward the man who was still standing near the doorway, still smoking and being generally intimidating...

Okay, so this guy at least seemed nice. And relatively normal.

"Bonjour, cher~"

Or so she thought. Until Francis suddenly snuck up behind him, sliding an arm around the man's waist. Smirking triumphantly as Leon tensed at the movement.

...And then Francis was _down_. Flat on his back. With a gun pointing right towards his...ah...yes...

"Three feet."

Francis groaned, although he was still smirking. "Ah, but mon cher Leon, we're out in the natural world! Do we really need silly restrictions like—"

"_Three. Feet._"

Francis held his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. "Oui. Oui..."

And Mattie watched as he slid his gun back into his holster—which she hadn't noticed before, of course, since her observation skills were apparently nonexistent—before turning back to her and flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry..."

Arthur snorted. "Don't say sorry for that. Say sorry for not actually shooting the bloody git."

...Sometimes Mattie's friends really worried her.

* * *

A/N: There you guys go ;D Leon and Johnson showed up. And I found it very amusing that this chappy showed up right after the last chappy of R&R. Wasn't actually planned like that. But Franny gets threatened by guns a lot... He _really _is just asking for it, though.

And Ivan is dealing with Drew and Rick.

I don't feel sorry for them. Not one bit. They _totally _deserve it.

Oh, and I was playing Kingdom Hearts last night. And there's a Final Fantasy character in there named Leon. I kept giggling whenever they mentioned him. xD I was like "...You are such a creepy fangirl..." Although not as creepy as I am while playing Resident Evil.

As I alternate between "HAHAHA! DIE! DIE MINDLESS IMBECILES! DIE! *evil maniacal laugh of insanity*" and "...Leon is pretty. He has nice hair. He has _really _nice hair... It looks like it would be nice and soft. I want to pet it..." ...*facepalms at self*

...This is why I creep out both my guy friends and girl friends. xD


	31. Chapter 31: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 31**

"This is totally unfair! Totally and completely unfair!"

"Oui. Oui. Very unfair."

"Why does the albino freak get to be friends with _cops_? Cops are supposed to be _heroic_. They shouldn't be hanging out with sister-stealing albino freaks!"

"Oui, very true."

"If anyone should be hanging out with heroic cops, then it should be the _hero_!"

"Oui. I completely agree."

Arthur wasn't sure who he wanted to kill more right now. Allison or Francis. Since they were both walking beside him—on opposite sides, just so they had to talk over him and be even more obnoxious—annoying him to no end.

On the one hand, Ally hadn't stopped complaining since Leon and Johnson had arrived. Complaining about how Gillian shouldn't have friends that were cops since she wasn't heroic enough or whatever. Glaring jealously ahead at the other girl, who wasn't even paying her any attention, too intent on giving Leon and Johnson the grand tour of the campsite. A very loud, overly excited grand tour of the campsite...

And on his other side, Francis was walking along, _encouraging_ her. For what reason, Arthur had no idea—probably just because he knew that it was annoying him.

It was also annoying that Francis kept walking much too close to him, acting as if the constant brushes of contact were accidental. Arthur was currently wondering if anyone would mind if he just turned and slugged him.

"Perhaps Arthur here could introduce you? He and cher Leon are quite good friends."

...Never mind, he was _definitely _going to slug him.

"_What_?" And Ally immediately whirled toward him at that, clinging to his arm with a strength that was rather worrying, since he was pretty sure that she'd be able to rip his arm out of his socket if she pulled hard enough. "Why didn't you _tell _me? You're friends with a _cop_? _How_?"

Francis was _dead_...

And the frog just _had _to make it worse. As he cut in, before Arthur could think of a reasonable explanation. "Oh, it's a fun story. Why don't you tell her, cher? Or, she could always ask Leon herself..."

Okay, he was going to kill him right here. Right now.

Which he immediately prepared to do by reaching up and grabbing the frog by the arm, dragging him back in the direction that they'd come. Not even bothering to say anything to Ally.

"Ow~! Arthur~ Not so _rough_, sil vous plait~" And what was even more obnoxious was that Francis's tone was teasing—the fucker even had the nerve to blow a kiss toward Allison, who looked rather confused by the situation. And like she couldn't decide whether to complain or follow them...

Francis was _dead_. So dead that they'd be searching for body parts for _years_.

It didn't take too much work to drag him out of sight of the others. Nobody else even seemed to notice, as he, Ally, and Francis had been walking at the back of the group and Gillian was currently shouting loudly enough that she was easily drowning everything else out. Which meant that they also didn't hear when he slammed the French git up against one of the buildings, hard enough that something inside said building ended up smashing...

"Is something wrong, cher?" And Francis was _still_ smiling like the smug, cocky bastard that he was...

It seriously ticked him off. So he shoved him harder against the wall, "What was _that _about?"

"I don't understand what you me—"

"Save it." He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so seriously angry about something. Especially about something that _Francis _said. Francis was always trying to get a rise out of him; usually he could just ignore him. But this— "I've told you before. Al is _never _finding out about any of that shit that I did."

Because those words had immediately terrified him. That curious spark that flickered through her eyes at the words...

Ally might find out. Because now she knew that there _was _something to find out... Why couldn't the frog learn how to keep his bloody mouth shut? He could imagine when they came back. She'd be hovering around, asking questions, wanting to know what Francis was talking about. She might even take his advice and ask Leon.

And she couldn't find out. Because, if she ever knew what kind of monster he'd been... He knew that she would be absolutely devastated and confused and hurt. Want to know why he'd kept it a secret from her. How he could do that sort of thing—drinking and sleeping around and theft and vandalism and all of those things. And then...

He wasn't sure what she'd do then. Hate him? Refuse to associate with him anymore? Deny it? He wasn't really sure. All he really knew was that he wasn't going to do something like that to her. He was her friend; he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that. Not his stupid decisions in the past. Or his present feelings, which just seemed to get more and more complicated the more he was around her...

"You're an absolute imbecile." And he'd managed to completely lose himself in thought, allowing Francis the chance to break out of his grip. And now, the other teenager was glaring at him irritably, arms crossed over his chest. "You aren't giving her enough credit! Allison is in love with you, mon ami. I've told you that before; anyone with _eyes _can see it. And she's not the type who would let something silly like the choices you made back then affect her feelings toward you."

But, of course, Francis wasn't _letting _him suppress his feelings for her. Arthur didn't entirely understand why... Actually, no. He completely understood why. Because Francis had always been like that. He was always butting his nose into Arthur's business, trying to keep him from doing anything that he considered _too _stupid.

It was incredibly obnoxious in a way that was almost—_almost_—endearing.

While simultaneously making him want to punch the cocky asshole right in the jaw.

"You could ask Leon to explain it." And the frog was continuing, settling into a slightly more relaxed posture. Although he still definitely looked irritated. "He can explain the whole situation to Allison. You know that he's good at that sort of thing, after all—without his recommendation, you wouldn't currently be the student council president, oui? He can tell her everything and then Allison will know all about your past without you having to say a word. It would be perfect for everyone involved. You and Allison can finally accept that you're in love with each other—"

And there was no way that Arthur was letting him say another word. "I said _no_, Francis."

Because, he was starting to wonder if it might be better... If he just let Allison find out about his past, then he could cut this off immediately. If he didn't, then he'd just keep falling for her. It would get harder and harder to resist his feelings... And, it would make things harder for him in the future. When she inevitably fell in love with someone else. Some golden all-American boy.

If he let her find out now, then she would end up hating him. End of story. She'd avoid him. He wouldn't have to deal with any of these obnoxious 'love' emotions. Things would be a million times easier for him.

The only reason he didn't?

Because he was selfish. And he didn't want to give her up.

Because he was a bloody git.

"Pourquoi?" Very irritated. "Because you must be the martyr? Because you feel like you weren't punished enough back then? Pourquoi?"

"Because it's what's best for Al..."

And now Francis took a step back, arms settling against his hips in a rather insulted posture. And then a rather cruel smile crossed over his lips. "What is best for Al, oui? Fine, then. If you are determined to be an imbecile and throw her feelings away, then I shall allow you to be an imbecile and throw her feelings away. I am quite sure there are plenty of men out there who would love to have the affections of a beautiful girl like her..."

And the way he said that immediately sent a slight wave of panic through Arthur's mind. "What are you—?"

"And I'm sure that Allison could eventually be persuaded to give other men a try, oui? Since her first amour is being a—to use your own terminology—'bloody git' about the situation..."

"What are you talking abou—"

"A nice makeover. Some new clothes to compliment that lovely figure of hers, a little more attention to hair and make-up... Oui. Mademoiselle Allison has the potential to be very _very _attractive... And I feel that she has already set her eyes on someone else..."

"_Who?_" And he hadn't meant the question to come out as suddenly as it did. He didn't miss the smirk that crossed over Francis's lips.

"Why would it matter to you, _cher_~? Since you are not _in love with her_? Anyway..." And now he turned, flashing a teasing smirk over his shoulder. "I should join up with the others, oui? We need someone to _liven up_ the tour for our guests, oui?"

And he flounced away.

And Arthur cursed whatever it was that had kept him from punching that face in as hard as he could.

* * *

A/N: ...Why do I love manipulative Francis so much? And irritated/punkish Arthur? Probably because they're awesome, yes...

Hmmmm... Can't think of what I wanted to say... Except that you guys' reactions to Leon and Johnson amused me greatly. Glad you like them so much! :D I have to say that I love creating OC's... (I have a long long past of writing original fiction, so it kind of makes me feel like I'm not _completely _losing that ability) And it always makes me super happy when people love the creations of my mind.

(If Leon is even an OC and not a crossoverish expyish...something or other...I'm still debating that inside my own mind xD Then again, I'm starting to debate whether I should even classify this whole verse as fanfiction because it's so...not based on the actual story at all ;D Haha. Which was totally unrelated to anything except the fact that I like to mentally puzzle over literary theory when I'm bored... Holy crap, that was so nerdy that I almost had to slap myself...)

Anyway! So yeah... Oh, thinking of literary theory. So, I'm in college again. Which means that updates will be slower. Because unfortunately...we have real life. And college real life equals an overload of homework... Wee? -.- (Which I still have to finish my homework for tomorrow, joy... Sigh... Yay for writing breaks. They help us keep relatively sane)


	32. Chapter 32: Leon

A/N: Yes, this chapter is from an OC's POV. Yes, I am a horrible person. No, I am not apologizing. ;P Mwahaha!

* * *

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 32**

Leon was pretty sure that he was going to end up going deaf before he was thirty. And it was going to be entirely Gill's fault.

"And that's the arts and crafts building! And over there is the awesome mud pit! We're gonna play tug-of-war there tonight and my team is _definitely_ going to win! Because we're a billion times more awesome than Ally's team! And tug-of-war is one of the most awesome games ever!"

He was also pretty sure that he was going to end up losing complete feeling in his arm in about five seconds, as Gillian had refused to let go of it since they'd started their 'tour'. And she had a pretty strong grip. Which was only made worse when you considered the fact that she tended to speed up and change direction without warning; his arm was really starting to ache from being yanked around.

"You should play with us!" And she suddenly stopped—again without warning—before spinning around to face him. "We would totally and completely crush Ally's team to dust if you played with us!"

"I'm pretty sure that that would be considered cheating, Gill." Thankfully, Leon was saved from responding by the girl, whose name he was pretty sure was Mattie, who had been walking on Gill's other side throughout the tour. Remaining silent throughout, occasionally sending him rather uncertain looks.

Gillian immediately pouted in response, squeezing his arm even more tightly and then slipping into a whining tone. "But, Mattie~ it'll be more _fun _if Leon plays. And Johnson can play too!"

...Well, that was definitely an interesting mental image. Leon turned his head immediately to glance back toward where his partner was following them, face settled into his default expression. The 'I'm listening, but I don't feel the need to comment' expression.

Johnson playing tug-of-war.

That was just asking for trouble... And bodily injuries. Not that Johnson would hurt them deliberately, but you couldn't play tug-of-war with someone who was as massive as that without _someone _getting hurt.

"Gill, it's still cheating. And that would just make it worse." Mattie looked suitable unnerved by the remark, as evidenced by the rather worried looks that she was sending his partner. Who had turned his head and was glancing toward the back of the group...

Huh... Hadn't Arthur and Francis been walking back there? With the girl that he hadn't been introduced to yet. Now she was walking alone, glancing backwards occasionally, as if unsure where her friends had gone...

That could be bad. Not that he was too worried about Arthur. But he didn't like not knowing where Francis was.

Anyway, he turned back toward Gillian and her girlfriend. He was pretty sure that he was going to like this Mattie. Since she seemed rather reasonable—unlike ninety-eight percent of the people that he spent most of his time with. "Maybe they can watch, though."

Watching Gillian playing tug-of-war. Leon had the feeling that watching any sort of sport in which Gillian was involved, particularly when said game also involved _mud_, would lead to him getting covered head to toe in the mess. Even if he were on the other side of the campsite.

So he cut in with a quick "We probably won't be staying." Before she could get her hopes up.

She did anyway, of course. As shown when she turned toward him, surprised eyes settling on him. And now she looked absolutely heartbroken. "You aren't staying? But _Why_?"

Think fast, Leon. He sucked at saying no to anyone when they turned that sort of expression on him. So he needed to think of something quick. So he hurriedly blurted out. "Johnson has a date tonight."

...And he officially sucked at thinking fast. _That _was what he came up with? Really?

"Date?" Gillian looked suitably startled for a moment. Which could be good. Maybe he'd taken her so off guard—because really... Johnson. _Dating_?—that she wouldn't bother to question him too much.

Yeah, because that was likely. On the plus side, Gillian now released his arm. Allowing him at least a few minutes of freedom.

Unfortunately, she immediately decided to replace his arm with _Johnson's_. Something that very few people would have the bravery—or possibly stupidity—to do. "Johnson~! You're going on a date? With who? Is she pretty? What's her name?"

And now Leon winced as Johnson looked at him with... Well, to most people it would just look like his usual expression. Fortunately—or rather, unfortunately at this exact moment in time—Leon had gotten quite good at reading his partner's less-than-clear expressions in the past four years. And the look that he was now sending him was plainly reading 'you're going to deal with this now, right?'

Yeah...

Unfortunately, he was interrupted from his probable rescue mission by someone _else _attaching to the arm that Gillian had just vacated.

"Bonjour, cher~! I need to talk to you, so you will come with me, oui?"

...He couldn't deck this kid. That would be completely unprofessional—even if he wasn't _technically _on duty right now. Even if this kid _was_ probably the most persistent human being on the face of the planet. Definitely the most persistent and _annoying_ individual that Leon had ever met.

"Francis." He hissed out a warning, attempting to pull his arm out of the teenager's grip. And not to punch him. No matter how much he wanted to...

Unfortunately, Francis was practically _impossible _to get rid of once he had you in his grip. A fact that Leon had learned long ago. He was like a leech. A perverted, French leech.

"But I need to talk to you, Leon." And that managed to surprise him enough to capture his attention. Since Francis _never _used his real name. It was always _cher _or _amour _or...other random things in French. He had no idea what most of the things that he called him meant, since he'd long ago decided that it was better for his sanity if he stopped looking up the French things that Francis said to him...

Anyway, Francis never used his real name, except when he was actually being serious. As rare as that was...

"About what? And you're supposed to be three feet away from me..."

"About cher Arthur." Francis of course proceeded to ignore the second part of his statement, now attempting to drag him away by his arm. Less successfully than Gill, since Leon pulled back, determined not to follow him until he'd decided whether he _wanted _to follow him. "Just for a few minutes?" He almost sounded desperate.

Ugh... Leon really hated his curiousity. Seriously, he _knew _that Francis couldn't be up to anything good. But, he was really curious now.

He immediately glanced toward Johnson, hoping for some sign of what he should do. Instead, he just received a vaguely displeased look in response—he wasn't entirely sure whether it was due to the fact that he wasn't a huge fan of Francis or whether it was because Gillian was still attempting to wrangle information about his new _girlfriend _out of him. Probably a little of both.

Leon glanced back toward Francis at this, who was staring at him with wide 'attempting to look innocent' eyes. And he finally sighed. "...Fine."

Damn his curiousity's inability to _learn anything _to hell.

And Francis looked much too thrilled by his response. He immediately tugged harder on his arm; Leon allowed himself to follow. Sending a quick signal toward Johnson, who was watching them closely. "But I still have my gun, so if you try to pull anything..."

Francis laughed, making a dismissive motion at his words. "I won't. I won't. Je promets."

Mhm. Leon was definitely not taking that remark at face value. He followed, catching the eyes of the blonde girl that had been walking with Arthur and Francis as they passed... She was pretty, looked vaguely familiar.

"That is cher Allison." And Francis's sudden remark made him jerk slightly in surprise, coming a few seconds after they had passed the girl. "She's Mattie's sister... I assume that Arthur hasn't mentioned her before?"

"Arthur? I think he's mentioned the name a few times..." Ah, so _that _was the Ally that Gill was constantly complaining about. At least now he had a face that he could fit to all of the exclamations of 'unawesomeness'.

Francis sighed, muttering under his breath. "Only a few times? Mon Dieu, he is even more of an imbecile than I thought."

Leon now managed, since Francis was sufficiently distracted, to rescue his arm from his grip, hurriedly shoving his hands into his front pockets as he watched the teenager suspiciously. "Yeah, a few times. He said...something about her being a troublemaker. And she always fights with Gill. And she's loud and obnoxious..."

"And he is madly in love with her." Francis cut him off, waving his now free hand dismissively again. "He has been for years. He absolutely _refuses _to confess his _amour_ to her, though. It is infuriating!"

...Oh.

Well...

He frowned slightly. "That was what you wanted to talk about?"

He hoped not. He was of course happy for Arthur. But, he definitely wasn't someone who should be giving romance advice to anyone else. Although, why would Francis be asking him anyway? Wasn't he always going on about how he was some sort of expert on 'l'amour' or whatever he called it?

"Non. Non. You are just as blind about your feelings of amour as our cher Arthur... Otherwise, you would stop playing hard to get." Leon immediately scowled in response to that, fingers inching toward his belt in a warning gesture.

Francis just continued speaking, although he did take a quick step away. Although he was _still _insisting on standing closer than three feet. "Non. I wanted to talk to you because _you_, mon cher, have just made my job of getting those two idiots together a _million _times easier."

...Leon didn't like the sound of that. Anything that made Francis smirk at him like that was _not _agood thing. "A million—how in the world did I make your_..._matchmaking...easier? Why are you even bothering to match-make them? If Arthur likes this girl, then you should let him tell her when he's ready."

"If we wait until Arthur is _ready_, then we will be waiting here forever. And you made it easier because _you_, mon amour, are very attractive." He took another step away. Before Leon had a chance to decide _where _he should slug the bastard. "And you have managed to capture our cher Allison's eye. Not surprising, as she has a rather soft spot for officers such as yourself and, of course, you decided to come here looking like _that_... Really, cher. Sometimes I wonder if you're trying to make me _jealous_~ Forcing me to watch everyone else checking out your absolutely _gorgeous _ass."

...And the bastard managed to duck his fist in time, laughing in amusement as he darted a few feet away.

"I am just telling the _truth_, mon amour. You managed to capture her attention... Of course, she's absolutely enamoured with our dear, grouchy Brit. But there's no harm in _looking _when magnificent eye candy presents itself, oui? Of course, our cher, paranoid Arthur won't see it that way. He will manage to convince himself that you are trying to steal his cher Allison away, which will make him blindingly jealous. He will become less guarded—because he must steal Allison back from his rival, oui? And, without thinking, he will blurt out his feelings!" And now Francis clapped his hands, looking like a little kid excited over his birthday or Christmas.

While Leon just stared at him in horror.

Oh God, why hadn't he stayed home? He should have known that anything that Gillian invited him to was bound to end badly.

"I am not going to let Arthur think that I'm trying to steal her away from him. I wouldn't do that..."

"Mm," Francis just hummed in response, still grinning evilly. "He doesn't need to think that you're doing anything. You could be completely oblivious to her affections toward you... He'll still view you as a threat. But, if you try to convince him that you _don't_ have any feelings toward her, it will make him even _more _paranoid. Because why would you attempt to convince him that you _aren't _interested unless you really _were _interested?"

...This kid was evil. Leon had dealt with dozens of criminals in the past few years. And none of them held a candle to this teenager.

"Y—you—"

And Francis, of course, didn't let him finish. Instead, he laughed again and then darted past, blowing a quick kiss over his shoulder as he did so. "Don't worry, cher. I'll make sure that Arthur doesn't hate you after this is over. But for now, I must go. I'll make sure to save you a spot for dinner~"

...Leon was really terrified that Francis was going to eventually turn to a life of crime. If he ever did, he was moving... Somewhere as far away as humanly possible.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I will apologize. Because I'm not that mean. So, here... Apologies to anyone who is like "WHAT? WHY DID YOU USE AN OC-POV? STUPID AUTHORESS! YOU SUCK!" Although, if you actually thought that... Then you just made me sniffle pathetically and cry. So feel bad. Feel _really _bad. There were a lot of reasons for why. Mostly because there is a method behind my POV rotation and it only really worked this way. Else you would have no idea what Francis is doing... Which would be problematic...

In other news... Franny~ He makes me happy. :D Because he's evil and manipulative. And would be a terrifying criminal if he ever randomly decided to become a criminal.

And I got lots of requests for jealous Arthur on my formspring, so... There you go. Franny has set up his evil plan to make Arthur jealous. Which I think makes a reasonable amount of sense. Because reverse psychology is awesome. And totally works...


	33. Chapter 33: Lovina

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 33**

"Stupid bastardo!"

"Ow, Lovi~"

"Stupid stupid bastardo!"

She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to cry and those tickles in her eyes weren't because she was about to cry... It was just dusty in this fucking cabin, damn it!

_Her_ fucking cabin, which the two of them were currently standing inside; she couldn't remember inviting Antonio in, which probably meant that she hadn't and he'd just decided to follow her without asking—like usual. Stupid... Idiot.

He also hadn't asked if it was okay to hold onto her wrists, which was effectively keeping her from hitting his stupid face again. ...His grip was uncomfortable; the bandages covering his right hand itched against her skin. And they also felt slightly damp and sticky, since he'd already managed to bleed through the fabric.

Damn it.

"Lovi..." And suddenly her right hand was released for a moment. And then a finger brushed under her eye, wiping away a damned tear. Stupid dust. Making her cry. Not because she'd been scared. Not because she'd started thinking about the fact that Antonio had gotten hurt...

"Bastardo!" How could Antonio be so _stupid_? How could Antonio be so stupid that he would fight against people like _that_?

What if they had _really_ hurt him?

"Lovi?" Her head automatically lifted at the sound of her name... Since when had she stopped looking at him? And since when had everything gotten so blurry? It must be more of that stupid dust. Stupid...

And her thoughts were suddenly cut off. By the sweet, very gentle feel of Antonio's lips against hers. His uninjured hand moving to cup her cheek as his thumb rubbed gentle circles into the damp skin under her eye. The movement so soft and tender that her eyes automatically slipped closed in response.

"Lovi..." The words were breathed against her lips in a low, slightly huskier-than-usual voice as they separated for a few moments. "Lo siento, mi querida... Mi vida... Mi prometida..."

If anyone ever made the mistake of accusing Lovina Vargas of _ever_ being the one to initiate a kiss with Antonio, she would deny it with everything that was in her... She would _never _want to _willingly _kiss him. Of course not, his stupidity might rub off on her if she did something like that...

And she would be lying through her teeth...

As she now basically attacked Antonio's mouth, her arms wrapping around his neck in order to force him closer... Probably startling him slightly, although he managed to recover quickly and used the arm hooked around her waist to pull her up against him. Which basically forced her to depend solely on him for balance.

They fit so well against each other. The thought flashed through her mind suddenly as she felt herself relaxing—melting into his arms. Like they were _meant _to be together like this...

...And she was going to end up gagging on her own sappiness in about five seconds if her brain didn't _shut up_.

"Te amo, Lovi~" he murmured as they broke apart again. Lovina was vaguely confused when she discovered that she had to take a few deep breaths to get her breathing back to normal; they hadn't even been kissing _that _intensely.

Didn't help that he was staring at her with those very very passionate, very loving emerald eyes. Hand buried in her hair, caressing her scalp in a gentle motion... Like she was something precious. Staring at her like she was beautiful.

And she could feel herself turning tomato red at the thought. Damn it. Why did he have to be so...so...romantic? And handsome and and...

_Wonderful and perfect and amazing and God damn it, he's even insanely sexy... Especially when he starts speaking Spanish. _

Oh God, her internal voice was starting to sound like some lovestruck schoolgirl.

"Y—you..." She really had no idea what she even wanted to say right now. She was intensely aware of the fact that he was still holding her. Injured hand resting on her lower back, fingers kneading against her back in what was probably an unconscious movement. Which felt much-too-nice. Especially when coupled with the brushes against her hair. And a soft peck against her lips.

"Mm, Lovi?"

"Why did you fight them?" She wasn't letting him off the hook yet. No way. She took a step back as she spoke, slightly irritated when Antonio didn't release her. He just allowed the arm around her waist to loosen and the hand that had been playing with her hair dropped down to meet the other, so that she was loosely encircled by his arms...

She _would_ slap him away, but she was too tired to do something like that right now.

Her internal lovestruck schoolgirl—who needed to _die_, right now—scoffed at that... _Yeah, right. You just like being held like this..._

And now Antonio's gaze left her for a moment, as he looked away, rather guiltily. It made her stomach do a nervous flip. Why did he look so nervous? What in the world had happened? And then he turned back, his grip on her tightening slightly. "Sí... You should know, Lovi. Do you remember how you fell into the lake, querida?"

She frowned, wracking her brain for a few moments. Not...really... A few fuzzy images, but not enough to piece together anything that made any sense. "No. I don't think so."

"You—those boys, the ones that bothered us before. You remember them?"

"Sì." She scowled at the memory of those assholes—and then her frown deepened as she felt a twinge of memory flash through her mind... Something about those assholes. And the lake. Still not enough, though.

"Well, one of them—he pushed you into the lake."

"_What!_" And she screeched that word out, jerking backwards out of his arms. _"WHAT!" _

"Lovi..." He looked rather shocked by her reaction. "Are you—?"

Lovina's entire body was trembling now, her hands fisting dangerously. "Where the _fuck _are they? I'm going to tear their _fucking balls _off!"

Antonio looked slightly frightened by her incredibly violent response. "I don't really know...Ivan went after them..."

She ignored his statement in favour of continuing her rant. "And then I'm going to fucking force them to fucking _eat _them through a fucking _straw_! And then..." She wracked her brain for anything else that was appropriately violent enough. Fucking bastards needed to die in the most horrifying way possible.

Although...

"Wait, so you got into a fight with them because of _me_?"

He flushed slightly, looking slightly sheepish. "S—sí..."

"Why?"

"Because he hurt you." And now Antonio moved close again, reaching out to take her hands, breaking her fists apart and intertwining their fingers. Then he set their intertwined hands against his chest. Smiling sweetly at her slightly perplexed expression. "You're my prometida... I had to protect you."

She blushed again, eyes moving away from his and instead focused on the emerald sparkling up at her from its place on her ring finger.

She was absolutely insane. Agreeing to marry Antonio... She was still in high school. Damn it, she had no idea how to be a _wife._ Just the thought terrified her. What if she was terrible at it?

And what would everyone think when they found out? People at school... She knew that there were plenty of girls at school who were _already _convinced that she was...was...a slut. Which was completely unfair, since she'd never slept with _anyone _before. Especially not Antonio. But...they still believed it. And there were always rumours going around and she could just _imagine_ what they'd assume if they found out that she was getting married.

"Are you okay, Lovi?" And she was brought out of those thoughts by the feel of Antonio's fingers squeezing hers reassuringly; she lifted her head to look up into his soft, warm, beautiful eyes...

"Y—yeah." And now she flushed again, her own grip tightening infinitesimally. "Just—you're an idiot. You shouldn't do something stupid like get into fights."

"All right." He leaned forward and teasingly kissed the end of her nose, earning himself a slightly irritated look. "I promise I won't get into a stupid fight again."

"You'd better not."

His gaze only grew warmer as he smiled down at her. Until he laughed and then leaned forward to nuzzle his cheek against hers. "Te amo, Lovi. I love you more than anyone in the entire world."

...Her stomach did _not _start doing flip-flops at that. Definitely not.

And she only leaned forward and pressed their lips together because she wanted to shut him up before he said anything else stupid.

What? It was completely true!

* * *

A/N: We interrupt the Arthur/Ally/Leon/Francis craziness to bring you some Antonio and Lovina fluffiness. Haha ;D I figured it'd give us all a bit of a breather.

Plus these guys are soooooo cute... :)

Oh, and I got a couple requests for a chappy in Johnson's POV... Which made my brain go "Ahhh... You want to kill meeee~" Because...that is going to be insanely difficult. -.- But then Prussia-chan sort of kind of turned against me and begged and challenged... And yeah... I kind of fail at resisting her requests. Since she's been reading my stuff since I was in 4th grade and knows how to get me to write what she wants. So you guys who wanted Johnson-ness can thank her and her evilness.

I'll do a Johnson POV chapter. Not in this story, though. I'll do one in Round and Round. Can't say when, except that it'll probably be within the next five chapters... (Gosh, that one's going to end up being _another _story that never ends...)


	34. Chapter 34: Ludwig

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 34**

Ludwig hated dirt.

He wasn't anal compulsive—no matter what Gillian said. It was perfectly normal to want things to be clean and tidy at all times. After all, how many people would really e_njoy _living in a house that was constantly caked with dust and mud and filth? No one.

Except maybe Gill. But he didn't consider her to be an accurate representation of a normal human being.

So, he hated dirt. He despised dirt. But even more than dirt, he hated _mud_.

Which was why he had not been at all pleased when he found out that the next challenge in this ridiculous competition was tug-of-war. Over a _mud pit_.

"All right, everyone!" Which Gillian was currently standing in front of, looking over the rest of her team with a bright smile. "We don't need to worry! Everyone knows that our last loss was just a complete fluke! We're totally going to win this one because we're way too awesome to lose twice in a row to that _unawesomeness_."

Ludwig really wanted to go back to his cabin. To go back to his at least relatively mud-free cabin.

But if he tried to escape, Gillian would follow him. And he would end up covered in mud anyway.

"Ve~ this is going to be fun, Ludwig!"

Plus, there was also the fact that a little Italian girl was currently clinging to his arm. Which would make it rather difficult to escape.

Which meant that he was going to be forced to do this... He was going to be forced to play tug-of-war, in a pit filled with filthy mud, with his evil sister.

The universe hated him.

"First up!" And he was interrupted from his internal probable-mental breakdown by the sound of Mr. Roma's voice booming out over the group. Which currently consisted of all three teams—minus Antonio and Lovina for some reason, Leon and Johnson, and Mr. Roma and his grandfather. "First up, Gillian's team versus Roderich's team!"

And Ludwig's attention was immediately directed to the third team—probably the sanest team here, which was saying something—that had been loosely gathered on the other side of the giant mud pit.

Most of them had glanced up at Mr. Roma's remark, their expressions revealing a variety of expressions. Berwald was just standing there, in his usual spot beside Tina, looking as stoic as usual... Ludwig hesitated for a moment, before his gaze was drawn to where Johnson was standing next to Leon—a fair distance away from the mud pit. Hmm, he and Berwald had almost the _exact _same facial expression. Interesting.

Berwald was probably the most formidable opponent on that team. Since he was the biggest... Although, his gaze now settled on Tina, who looked rather excited. Like she actually _wanted _to play this game. She might provide some challenge; Ludwig knew that she had good balance and she was definitely stronger than she looked... He'd seen first-hand evidence of that fact once or twice.

As for the others. Raivis was next, standing a few feet away from Tina and Berwald. Ludwig was rather surprised when their eyes met and he noticed that the younger boy immediately started _trembling_. He couldn't imagine why in the world he'd look so nervous... He doubted that he'd provide too much of a problem, since he was so small and seemed to have an inability to keep his hands still for longer than a few minutes at a time.

Then, Eduard, who was standing on his other side. Not paying any attention to his surroundings, as he was too busy tapping away at his cell phone. Possibly could provide a challenge, but it was unlikely.

Katyusha wasn't actually standing in her group; Ludwig's gaze passed over the groups until he noticed that she was standing in the midst of Ally's team, talking to Ivan in a low voice. He nodded every so often... Ludwig frowned slightly, as he noticed how—_pleased_—Ivan looked... Very very _pleased_.

Apparently Ivan had been successful in _taking care _of those boys.

He shuddered slightly, rather glad that they weren't currently playing against _him_. Although they would be, later.

Then, Roderich, who was also nowhere near his team. He was actually standing near Ludwig, talking with Elizaveta... Ludwig had heard his voice falter a little bit at Mr. Roma's announcement, but then he continued.

There were very few people that Ludwig knew who hated dirt even more than he did. Roderich was one of them. Knowing him, he'd either attempt to get out of it before they started, or he'd just give up without much of a fight. Attempting to keep himself from joining the others in the mud.

...Of course, since Gill was around, he'd fail miserably.

And then the last two members of their opposing team... Toris, who was standing in the midst of his team, face set into a calm, long-suffering expression.

And Feliks.

"Eww~" Who was currently clinging to Toris's arm in a very familiar fashion, and squealing in displeasure. "Like there's no way that I'm going into that grotey mud! I like, totally just bought these shorts!"

...Ludwig was currently sure of three facts.

Roderich was going to end up covered in mud by the end of this game. Feliks was going to end up covered in mud by the end of this game. And _he _was going to end up covered in mud by the end of the game.

"Awesome!" Courtesy of the person who had just attacked his previously _free _arm. He sighed and turned his head to face her, not at all surprised to see his sister staring up at him with excited ruby-coloured eyes. "We're totally going to win, right, Ludwig? You'll stand in the back and be our awesome muscle!"

He sighed, but nodded. At least if he was in the back, then there was less likelihood of him getting pulled into the mud...

Not that it would help anything. But a man could dream.

"What can I do, Gilly?" And now his other arm was tugged as Feliciana bounced excitedly in place. "I want to help!"

Which Ludwig answered by frowning slightly as he glanced down at the smaller girl. Feli...he had almost forgotten that Feli was on their team.

Out of everyone, she would definitely prove to be the weakest link. Since she wasn't very strong and she had terrible balance and would probably end up crying if the rope rubbed her skin raw.

His frown deepened at that thought. He definitely didn't want to see her getting hurt... She had such soft, delicate hands. And the rope—he glanced over toward where the rope was half-submerged in the mud pit. It definitely looked rough...

"You can stand in front of Luddy and help him!" Gill exclaimed, seemingly without a thought, patting the younger girl on the head with a pleased smirk. "You can make sure that he doesn't slack off!"

"Ve~ Ludwig would never slack off!" And now she released his arm so she could _hug _him, staring up at him with eyes that could only really be described as _adoring_. Ludwig immediately blushed in response...

And thank Gott for Gill's short attention span, as she had already turned away and was glancing toward where Roderich was standing... Now alone, as Lizzy had wandered over to yell at her brother for some reason. "Sure, sure..." She sounded distracted now... And suddenly a smirk crossed over her lips and she immediately darted away without another word.

"Ve~?" Leaving Feli slightly confused. "Where's Gill going, aren't we going to play now?"

Three...

Two...

One...

The action of pushing someone into a gigantic pit of mud led to a rather interesting sound. A sort of squishing splat.

"Quit being such a prissy princess and let's play tug-of-war, Roddy!"

It probably said something about his sister that Roderich did not look at all surprised to find himself kneeling in a pit of mud; at least he had decent enough reflexes to keep himself from face-planting in the filth.

...Until Gill jumped in after him. And pushed his face _into _the mud.

And Ludwig momentarily wondered how difficult it would be to have his sister institutionalized. At least until the end of this trip.

* * *

A/N: Poor Roddy.

Boring set up chapter is boring. Sigh... Ah well, things will be getting more interesting.

Okies, so here's awesome news for you all. We have received LOTS of fanart from two lovely wonderful people that is up on my profile :D Kale Henderson (my wonderful muse-chan) and Bliss-chan... Both of them have drawn pictures for the Pleasantville series. Hoorah!


	35. Chapter 35: Gillian

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 35**

Gillian loved mud.

It was so squishy and fun and _dirty_. When she was little, she'd always get super excited whenever there was a rainstorm, because she _knew _that when it was all finished raining, she'd be able to run outside and play in the mud. She'd be able to stomp around in the puddles and paint her face with mud and search for slimy worms and smear mud or drop worms into Ludwig's hair if she managed to catch him...

Of course, when she did that, she'd usually get scolded by Mutti. But, it was usually worth it. Since Ludwig's squeals were always hilarious.

Pretty much _anyone's _reaction to getting shoved into mud was hilarious. Roderich had taken _forever _to get himself out of the mud, as he kept slipping everytime he'd tried to stand up. Lizzie had finally gone over to help him, sending Gill a look that warned her that she was going to _pay _for this when he was out...

Let Gill just say now that Eli was awesome.

As he'd come up behind his sister while she was leaning over to take Roderich's hand—and shoved her. Hard.

So she plopped into the mud. Right _on top _of Roderich.

Gill was pretty sure that she'd never laughed that loudly in her entire life.

Once Lizzie and Roderich had managed to make their way out of the mud pit—both of them looking like incredibly infuriated drowned rats—her team and Roddy's team had faced each other... Thankfully before either Roddy or Lizzie had a chance to kill her or Eli...

"Ew~! This is like totally gross! Toris~ Like look at my new sandals! They're like totally ruined!"

Did she _really_ need to explain how that match had ended?

They had dominated, of course. Because they were awesome!

And partly due to the fact that both Roderich and Feliks had let go of the rope as soon as everyone had started to pull. Roderich, because he didn't want to ruin his hands for his _piano_... (Seriously, if he could have that thing's babies, he totally would. And he'd totally name Gill as their awesome godmother, of course).

And Feliks because... He was Feliks. And 'like, totally wasn't going to like ruin his like new manicure with like a totally groaty rope, bitch!' Paraphrase courtesy of the awesome Gill.

And their failure had ended up sending the entire other team into the mud with just a few tugs on the rope from Gill's team. Well, entire other team once she'd snuck up behind Feliks and Roderich and pushed them both in... Laughing hilariously at the squeals coming from Feliks.

Ah, this was so much fun.

And now, she was about to face off against her arch-rival!

Or she would be if it weren't for the fact that Antonio had disappeared at some point during this entire mess—although, now that Gill thought about it, she couldn't actually remember seeing Antonio here at any point—and now Ally's team was one person short...

"This was all your fault!" And Gill was slightly startled when Ally suddenly jumped in front of her, pointing toward her accusingly. "You used your evil mind control powers to make Antonio leave so we wouldn't have enough players! Cuz you're scared!"

And Gill immediately puffed up at that. The awesome Gill was never scared! Especially not of Ally! "Psh, who would be scared of _you_? My team could _easily _crush your team into dust!"

"Gill, Ally!" Ally had started to open her mouth to respond—with a comeback that would never be able to defeat any of the comebacks that Gill would be able to come up with—but was interrupted when Mattie suddenly stepped between them. Flashing each of them a very very angry glare. That made them both immediately freeze.

Before she yelled, "Quit arguing! Just get a replacement for Antonio and let's get this over with! Quit ruining this for everyone else!"

Mattie...yelled...

Gill just stared at her in shock for a few seconds. Holy shit. She'd never seen Mattie yell before...

She was standing in the middle of the crowd, hands on her hips as she flashed her glare between the two girls. Violet eyes sparking with something vaguely dangerous. That promised a world of hurt if they didn't straighten up immediately...

Sheiβe, she looked _hot~_

"Fine." She probably shouldn't think about things like that right now. She needed to focus all of her attention on the competition. She couldn't lose sight of the goal.

Namely, crushing Ally's team to _dust_...

"Okay." Ally pouted, but nodded her agreement. Before her eyes began glossing over the group surrounding them. "Someone else?" She tapped her index finger against her chin. "They'd need to be suitably heroic..."

And Gill noticed Ally's gaze land on him just a moment too late...

"Leon! You can be on my team!" She looked overly-excited by the prospect.

"No way!" No way was Ally going to steal one of her best friends to be on her unawesome team. "Leon's way too awesome to be on your team! He should be on _my _awesome team!"

"No! He should be on _my _heroic team!"

Gill glanced toward the rest of her team for back-up. Lizzie was flashing her a death glare, hand clenched around the handle of her frying pan—Gill had hoped that the crazy bitch would have left that back in the cabin, but apparently not. Ludwig was staring off into the distance, as if attempting to ignore the argument, while Feliciana looked confused and a little worried. Natalya just looked disinterested, Heracles was sleeping... And Arthur and Francis... Well, Francis was laughing hysterically for some reason. She didn't really see how this was _that _funny... While Arthur was just staring at Ally with this weird expression that Gill couldn't immediately identify.

Leon, on the other hand, was gaping at them. Looking completely shocked. And now he cleared his throat, attempting to gain their attention. "Um, I don't think that me playing would be the best ide—"

"Cops are heroes. They shouldn't play with evil villain albinos!"

"Leon's _my _friend. He should play on _my _team!"

"You already have enough players!"

"You can have Lizzie!"

And she was suddenly jerked out of the argument, which had ended with her and Ally almost standing nose-to-nose, as Mr. Roma stepped between them, pushing them apart. "Hey, hey..." He smiled brightly and clapped them both on the shoulder before nodding toward where Eli was standing, far away from his sister. "Why don't we let Eli play on your team, Ally? I'm sure that he'd be able to take over for Antonio..."

There was a moment of quiet. As Ally glanced toward the boy. Who grinned and waved back in response. And then...

"Fine."

Which earned a grin from Gill. _Finally_. "Awesome!" She ran around to where the very messy rope was resting against the ground and lifted it into her hands, flashing a toothy grin at Ally as she hurried to do the same, the rest of their teams falling into place behind them. "Let the best team _win_~"

"Don't worry. The heroes always win!"

* * *

A/N: Yay! Took me long enough to get to this chapter, I know. And when I do, it basically just involves them arguing. xD Ah well, it's Gilly and Ally... Who are adorable.

And poor Leon. He totally wasn't supposed to stay in the campsite this long, but he just keeps getting dragged into stuff that doesn't involve him...

So, I mentioned in the last chapter of R&R that I created a list of all the characters in the Pleasantville verse. If you'd like to read it, here's the link…

theauthoress13 . livejournal . com / 25227 . html

Minus the spaces.

Oh, and speaking of Leon… So, I'm on break now. This chapter technically should've been up like 2 days ago, butttttt…

I started playing Resident Evil again, since I don't get to play video games very often at school. And then I spent pretty much all of yesterday reading RE fanfics… Soooo… Yeah. Not much time for writing.

Oh, but after 2 months of not playing video games …I failed. _Miserably_ at playing RE4 again. It made me rather sad. Then I attempted to play Kingdom Hearts… And failed. Even more miserably. *head desk* I blame the fact that Kingdom Hearts just confuses me 90% of the time. I'm better at games that basically come down to… "See those scary things over there that are trying to kill you? Shoot them. In the head. And during the few moments of downtime that you have, feel free to drool over the lovely virtual man with pretty hair that we have graced you with…"

*…Shot…

…Multiple times…

…By Leon…*

I am such a freak, but I love it. xD


	36. Chapter 36: Francis

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 36**

Francis really did love Gill. She was one of his best friends after all—actually, more like a combination of best friend and the younger sister that he never had...

However, he sometimes had the intense desire to lock her up in a shed for an hour or two. Just to get a short period of peace and quiet. Just to get a break from her ridiculous plans to defeat Allison—honestly, he was pretty sure that by this point, they'd both forgotten what in the world they'd been arguing about in the first place. And to escape from her love for making messes.

Since Francis really did not enjoy getting absolutely filthy. Particularly when he was about to get absolutely filthy _just_ so Gillian could defeat her girlfriend's overprotective sister in a stupid camp competition that really meant nothing in the long run.

Honestly, he had much more important things to worry about right now. Like how he was going to make Arthur _completely_ paranoid in the next few days...

Not that he really thought it would take too much work on his part. Since Arthur was _already_ paranoid when it came to his cher Allison. And Allison was incredibly oblivious when it came to things like this. And Leon really was hopeless when it came to anything involving l'amour. Add all of those ingredients together and you had a recipe for one of the most entertaining misunderstandings that Francis had ever manipulated into being.

But it would still require some planning. Planning which he _could _be doing right now, if he weren't currently standing behind Elizabeta and holding onto a grimy rope with his bare hands.

He was probably going to end up getting rope burn, too, which just made everything _worse_.

And where in the world was _Antonio_? Antonio enjoyed this sort of thing; he was always working on his maman's farm after all. Getting himself covered in dirt and mud.

Although, now that Francis thought about it, he hadn't seen Lovina around either. Which meant...

And a smirk immediately stretched across his lips at that thought. Now that he thought about it, _that_ would definitely explain where Antonio was...

Which meant that he was _definitely_ winning his bet with Gillian.

He was so lost in thought that he completely missed the countdown. What he _didn't _miss was the sudden tug on the rope that almost completely knocked him off balance.

"Pull! Pull!"

Francis obeyed the shout—tugging back as hard as he could. Merde. Why did they have to play _tug-of-war_? He could already feel the rope rubbing his hands raw...

"Come on, guys! We can't let the villain win!"

He couldn't really see much of the other team, as his vision was blocked by Lizzie's back. He did notice, however, that she was tugging as hard as she could. While growling something under her breath that sounded rather like "Going to kill him... Going to _kill _him..."

"Come on, Lizzie!" And now Francis heard a taunting call from the other side of the mud pit. That definitely sounded like Eli.

He twisted his head to glance around her... Eli was standing right in front of Ally, behind Kiku, Yong Soo, and Yao.

"Let's make this more _interesting_, Liz!" He shouted, his voice managing to carry over the grunts and shouts from both teams. "Your team wins and I'll photograph for you for the rest of this _month_..." His voice broke off for a moment as Gill gave a well-timed yank on the rope that managed to tug Kiku right into the muck.

"And if _we _win—!" And now Francis felt his entire body jerk forward at a particularly strong tug. Ow~ how was he supposed to be the master of l'amour when his hands were rubbed raw like this?

And then he heard a yelp, followed by a squelching sound, and then infuriated cursing.

Ah, so Arthur had been in the front of the line. He hadn't really paid too much attention to the order...

Okay, that made him feel better about the whole tug-of-war thing.

"And if we win, then you and Gill have to make out for no less than three minutes in front of the entire camp!" Eli finally finished.

"What!" And that had been Mattie's voice.

The rope suddenly jerked back in the direction of his team at that, and he heard Ally scream, "Hey, don't let go of the rope, Mattie!"

"I'm going to fall in, da ze~!"

And then a rather loud splat.

Two down. However many left to go.

"Ew~! That's disgusting, Eli!"

"Dude, not awesome!"

Francis now glanced around Lizzie again, since they seemed in charge of the rope right now. Yao was scrabbling at the very edge of the mud pit right now, attempting to keep from sliding in after Kiku and Yong Soo. Who were just sitting in the mud with a very very irritated-looking Arthur... Who was currently attempting to stand up and failing miserably.

Eli looked incredibly pleased with himself right now.

"So, what do you say, sis? This isn't near as bad as what you made me do that one time."

Well, _that _sounded interesting...

And Francis had sort of stopped paying attention to what he was supposed to be doing right now at _that _remark. Which was how he was taken completely by surprise when the rope jerked forward at least a foot. And he heard two splats.

Who—? Ah, Heracles and Natalya...

He shuddered slightly at the icy glare that Natalya immediately sent toward _everyone_. Heracles just looked completely confused, as if he'd just been woken up. Wait, he hadn't actually been sleeping, had he?

"You're on, Elijah!"

And now the rope jerked back towards their side. Francis was starting to wonder if he was the only one on this team who wasn't on the same wavelength, because he kept getting taken surprise by the sudden tugs by his own teammates.

Then again, it would probably help if he were actually paying attention to what Gill was saying.

Not that he thought that it would really help, as he could currently feel his feet starting to slide in the muck. Yao was now standing at least a foot away from his edge on the other side of the mud pit, while Gill was tottering right on the edge. And Lizzie right behind her was leaning back as far as she could go.

Really, who had thought it was at all fair to put Ally and _Ivan _on the same team? He could see Ivan's grin from here. He barely looked like he was exerting himself at all.

At this point, Francis was pretty sure that the only way that they could possibly win was if Ludwig somehow managed to make up for the fact that Allison's team had managed to get the two strongest players and tug Ally, Ivan, and Eli off balance...

"Ve~ Ludwig! My hands hurt!" Except, now Francis heard that familiar call out from right behind him.

"F—Feli!" And that suddenly panicked voice from right behind her. "Don't let go of the ro— Feli, you can't grab onto me!"

And that was all the warning that the rest of the team received...

Before their anchor suddenly released his hold on the rope as he was tackled by a sobbing Italian, and said rope flew forward at the next hard yank.

Causing the rest of the team to fly forward with it.

...And that was it.

The next thing that Francis was aware of was the sound of Mr. Roma shouting "Allison's team wins!" at the top of his lungs. And then cheering...

The second thing that he was aware of was the sensation of something squirming under him. Something that now started kicking and attempting to hit him.

"Get off of me, bloody git!"

Ah, Francis really had incredible luck sometimes.

He shook his head slightly as he rose from where he'd landed—he'd managed to catch himself on his hands and knees and was now hovering over his British _friend_... Who had not been quite so lucky and was currently lying on his back under him.

Such a familiar position, oui~?

He probably would have found it more amusing if it were not for the fact that he was currently feeling mud seeping up into his pants. And mud was covering his front and there was mud in his _hair_...

Ugh, it was going to take forever to get _that_ out.

"Not awesome!" And now he glanced over. He was currently surrounded by people in varying states of muddiness. The one who was currently in the worst state, of course, being the one who had just shouted that and was now standing up, glaring at the other team...

And who now turned toward the rest of her team. Glaring at them for a moment before she seemed to realise something that made a smirk pass over her lips.

"Actually, nein. Don't worry! This is just a minor set-back for Team Awesome! Because now..." And her smirk widened as her eyes travelled to meet Francis's.

"We take our awesome revenge!"

* * *

A/N: Revenge in mud tug-of-war is totally more important than the actual game. Because revenge involves attacking with mud. And that game was so totally not what real tug-of-war is like. But oh well, it's been so long since I actually played tug-of-war...

Eli and Lizzie are terrible. ;) I kind of love them in a sort of "These guys are nutsss~ just like the rest of the town" way.

Hmm, oh! And this is for those of you who have been leaving messages of Leon and Johnson's formspring! (Which the link is on my profile if you don't know what I'm talking about) ;D Keep it up! Your questions amuse me very muchly. Haha. Don't be upset though if it takes me a few days to respond. Some questions take me a little more thought to figure out how the characters would answer them... (Slash, some of them I actually talk over with muse-chan before answering, so I've gotta wait for her response and such things). Plus, you know... I'm busy some days because of silly college-work.

Just to say, though. Since I kind of forgot to mention this. It's mostly Leon answering the questions. Even if you pose them to Johnson. Just because it would be super super out of character for Johnson to respond to most things, since I can't see him really using a computer or being willing to give out information like that. Since he's so secretive.

So don't be upset if he doesn't respond. That's just how Johnson is. ;) He's difficult. Leon will try to be more helpful, but he doesn't know everything.

(Plus, the way that I picture them answering is through Leon being on his laptop, reading the questions to Johnson, and then interpreting Johnson's stares/one word answers into something that you can understand, lol. So...it'd be Leon typing them out no matter what.)


	37. Chapter 37: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 37**

Mud.

Lots and lots of mud.

Ally couldn't say that she'd expected her victory to lead to something like this... What was quite possibly the biggest mud fight in the history of giant mud fights.

Okay, so the albino freak was annoying and evil, but even Ally had to admit that this had been a pretty terrific idea.

"Eat mud, creepy commie!"

Because seriously... How often would she end up in a situation where she could throw a _mud ball_ at Ivan Braginski without getting scolded by a teacher or some other random authority figure?

And what made it even better was that she had just gotten a _perfect _bull's eye!

Ivan _had _been mud-free up until this point, which just made it better. As mud was now dripping down his face from where the flying ball had smacked right against his forehead... Ally really really wished that she had a camera right now, since his expression was _perfect_. Dull shock mixed with slow realisation. She knew that pretty soon, he'd start doing his creepy commie 'Kol kol kol' thing.

And she might want to be far away from him at that point. Not because she was scared, since heroes weren't afraid of anything. Particularly evil creepy communists, but...you know. It'd probably just be better for everyone involved if she avoided Ivan for the rest of the day.

Anyway, so she'd just thrown a mud ball at Ivan. Now she glanced around the giant mud pit to see that practically _everyone_ was covered head to toe in mud by this point. Gill's team, her team, Toris's team... Feliks was currently clinging to Toris's arm like his life depended on it and was _still_ whining about how the mud was ruining his clothes...

Even Mr. Roma and Mr. Beilschmidt had joined in the fun. Or, Mr. Roma had...Ally had sort of seen Mr. Roma _push_ his VP into the mud pit earlier and now it looked like Mr. B was possibly attempting to drown him in the mud. Maybe...

She wasn't entirely sure if it _was _possible to drown someone in mud, but if it was, then Mr. Roma might be in trouble.

Then again, Mr. Beilschmidt didn't seem like the type of person who would _actually _kill his boss, so she doubted that Mr. Roma would need her heroic skills.

"Al?" And her attention was effectively distracted from the sight of her vice-principal attempting to murder her principal by the familiar voice coming from behind her. She turned...

And screeched.

A—a...

"Mud monster!"

Arthur had always told her that it was silly to believe in things like mud monsters and aliens and vampires and werewolves and those sorts of things. Ally had always ignored him, since she _knew _that those sorts of monsters were real. And at this exact moment, she felt a momentary feeling of victory. Since now she had _proof_. As a _real _mud monster was standing in front of her—and she knew it was a mud monster, since it looked _exactly _like the mud monster from that movie she'd watched last weekend.

All blobby and gloopy, the mud that made up its body was dripping down into the mud pit. Leaves and grass and little twigs had gotten stuck in its muddy body. And—and now it was stretching its arms toward her, preparing to drag her into its muddy home!

She felt a moment of panic, but then... She couldn't let that happen! She needed to protect everyone from the mud monster!

Which was why she didn't allow herself another moment of hesitation and instead _threw _herself at the creature. Knocking the monster right back onto its back and receiving an almost human -sounding cry of startled pain.

Huh... Wait, it didn't feel near as gloopy as she'd expected...

"You bloody git!"

And that had sounded like Arthur and... Oh. Oops...

"Uh, hi, Artie..." Artie's mud-covered eyebrows knit together at this. "Why are you pretending to be a mud monster?"

You know, now that she was looking at the mud monster more closely, it was starting to look less and less like that creature from the movie... And more like a very very irritated Arthur absolutely _covered _in mud.

Like, seriously covered.

"Get _off _of me, you git!"

...And she should probably stop sitting on his stomach. That thought passed rather quickly through Ally's mind, although it took her a few moments to actually realise that that meant that she should _move_. Which she hurriedly did, feeling a little flippy in her stomach all of a sudden. Almost like she was sick.

She'd better not be getting sick. She needed to be in perfect health if she wanted to defeat the evil albino!

Who she now noticed was creeping along the outskirts of the trees that surrounded the giant mud pit with Eli, both of them attempting to sneak up behind an as-of-yet unmuddy Leon. Who was yelling at Francis or something... His partner had disappeared apparently, since Ally didn't see him around anymore.

He didn't remain unmuddy for long.

"Gillian!"

"You gotta join in the awesome fun, Leon!"

"Bonjour, cher, so you decided to join us, oui~?"

"Mud fights originated in Korea, da ze!"

And Ally's attention was distracted from Gill, Leon, and everybody over there—and also from Arthur, who was now attempting to dig the twigs and leaves out of his hair and was refusing to look at her for some reason—by the sound of Im Yong Soo's voice.

Coming from _right_ in front of her, as he was currently leaning into her face, only a few inches away. Beaming happily at her. Apparently not minding one bit that he was also covered in mud.

Ally grinned back. "Hey, Yong Soo." He was cool, since he was on her heroic team and not that evil albino's team... Even if he had fallen into the mud before they'd won. That was all right, because all teammates were important when you were a hero!

"You threw a mud ball at Ivan, da ze? Did you know that throwing mud balls also originated in Korea?"

Ally wasn't entirely sure how that could be possible, but it probably didn't matter either way. What _did _matter was the fact that she had pelted Ivan Braginski in the face with a mud ball. And he looked seriously _pissed. _In his creepy commie sort of way.

"Yep! Because I'm a _hero_!" And she definitely heard a 'bloody git' from behind her. Which she was going to ignore, since Arthur was obviously just being crabby because he was all muddy and because she'd tackled him thinking that he was a mud monster. Which was a totally understandable mistake to make. "And you should join me and be my sidekick, Yong Soo!"

"Sidekicks originated in Korea, too!"

"We can fight against the evils of communism and the evils of sister-stealing albinos together!"

Ally wasn't entirely sure where this idea had come from, but it sure sounded sweet. She could start creating her own team of heroic sidekicks to help her save her sister and defeat Ivan and even fight mud monsters!

"Okay, da ze!"

"And we can start by getting the creepy commie covered in mud too!"

"All right, da ze!" And that was apparently all that Yong Soo needed to hear, as he was suddenly gone. Half-running, half-swimming over to the other side of the mud pit. Just pausing long enough to quickly grope Yao's chest, earning an angered shout in Chinese that he completely ignored.

"Hey, where'd Kiku go?" And now Ally turned toward Arthur, who was staring at her with one of his usual 'are you really that stupid?' expressions. Which was unfair, since she hadn't done anything stupid in a long time! "He was here earlier, did he ditch us?"

Kiku'd better not have ditched her for the evil albino's team... She'd even given him permission consort with the enemy—more because Mattie could occasionally be terrifying when she irritated than because she'd wanted to—so he should be completely loyal to her!

Arthur was on the evil albino's team too, but Ally had decided that he didn't technically count as the enemy. Since he _obviously _was too stuffy and British to be tainted by the evilness.

"He left with Heracles a while ago." See, even his _voice _was stuffy and British! "Don't you ever pay attention to anything besides yourself, git?"

"Of course I do! I'm heroic, so of course I pay attention to everything!"

"Your breasts belong to me, da ze!"

For example, Ally had just turned her head—since she was paying _attention_—and had seen Yong Soo suddenly launch himself at Ivan's back and wrap his arms around him in his usual 'claiming breasts' pose. Proceeding to _cover _the creepy commie in mud in the process. And Ivan was just standing there with this hilariously shocked expression on his face.

And Raivis had presumably just passed out, as he'd suddenly fallen over, Eduard had screamed out his name, and now he was kneeling over him and attempting to fan him back into consciousness with a nearby leaf.

"Wow, you're really muscular, da ze!" And Yong Soo had also apparently been distracted from his sidekick mission, as he was now just standing there with his hands resting on Ivan's chest and with wide eyes. Looking really surprised for some reason. "Do you work out?"

See? Ally totally paid attention to everything happening around her! Because that's what heroes did!

And now Arthur slapped his hand against his forehead, hard enough that it actually sounded somewhat painful... "Why am I surrounded by gits? Why?"

* * *

A/N: Short chapter and not even that great of a chapter. Sorry, I'm trying to get back in the writing mood... Which I've been really out of it due to stress and schoolwork and business and my depression screwing with my emotions and all sorts of other things. But I feel better, so... I wrote.

Partly because I've been really down about my writing recently and then a couple days ago, I found out that I got into our school's literary magazine! Which I'd totally thought I hadn't gotten into because they never sent me an email or anything... But I did!

Amusingly enough, the story that got in...was the little Big Mike lobster story from Compiling. It made me laugh, since I sent in three stories and that was the one that I actually sent in sort of as a joke, since it's totally nothing like what they usually publish. And I'm pretty sure that my story is the only one in the entire magazine that isn't all metaphors and allusions and that sort of whatever... So it amuses me.

Oh, and also. I was listening to the song "Raise Your Glass" by P!nk while writing this chapter. And I was like "You know, this song could totally be the theme song of like the entire Pleasantville series"... So that made me happy, too. I keep picturing Gill singing it while dancing on a bar and surrounded by pretty much everybody else. It's a fun mental image that makes me smile.


	38. Chapter 38: Antonio

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 38**

"And—and then Mamá and I went out to the market with all of our tomates. Boxes and boxes of tomates. And she was worried that we might have to carry them all the way to the tent by ourselves, but this very nice hombre came over and helped us." Antonio paused in his story for a moment. Shifting nervously in his seat as he waited for a response.

Nothing. Except for a sigh of annoyance from the seat beside him.

And a pair of dark eyes just _staring_ at him from across the table...

So he cleared his throat and continued. "Do—do you like tomates? You've never said whether you like them... Maybe you should come and visit our farm sometime. Mamá and I grow very good tomates. Sometimes Tio and Tia come up to help us during the summers, which makes them even better."

Another pause.

It wasn't that Antonio didn't _like _Johnson. He was sure that Johnson was a very nice person... It was just...

He never _talked_. And Antonio wasn't used to people not responding to him when he told them stories about his mamá or their farm or Lovi or tomatoes or whatever else he felt like talking about. Most people would either nod or ask questions or yell at him to shut up... Although that last one was pretty much exclusive to Lovi.

Johnson just _stared _at him with a completely blank expression. So blank that Antonio wasn't even sure if he were actually listening.

And he really wasn't sure if Johnson wanted him to keep talking or not. Not that he was good at figuring that sort of thing out anyway, but it was _really _hard when his facial expression never changed.

So, to be safe, he decided to keep talking. Since he didn't really like it when things were too quiet. "So, this week is really fun, right? Except for dealing with those boys. But other than that, it's been very fun...and really special, too. Since we've done lots of exciting things and lots of exciting things have been happening..." Like getting _engaged _to his lovely little Lovi.

Who was currently sitting right next to him, refusing to look at him... Instead, she was apparently focusing all of her attention on the Sloppy Joe that she was attempting to eat without covering her face in sauce. But Antonio knew that she wasn't _completely _ignoring him, since her leg kept pressed against his every so often in a way that sent happy tingles through his body.

He really wanted to tell somebody about their special secret. Since they were going to be _married_. It was so hard to keep that kind of secret from everyone. He wondered if Lovi would mind if he told Johnson. He'd probably be a really good secret-keeper, since he was so quiet...

Then again, he couldn't ask her if it was okay to tell Johnson when the man was sitting right across from them.

"Do you like the camp? I love camping a lot—we used to go camping all the time when I was little. With Tio and Tia and Mamá and Abuelo. And we took Lovi and Feli and Francis with us sometimes too. Remember, Lovi? We had lots of fun! Except that one time when you fell in the river when you were trying to catch a fish and lost one of your shoes and..."

And he was interrupted when something brown and red was suddenly shoved right in front of his face. Almost right _into _his face. Startling him into jerking backwards.

"Eat the damn sandwich and shut up... You've been yapping for the past _hour_."

"Lo siento, Lovi~" He reached out to take the sandwich from her hand, staring at it for a moment before taking a bite. Not bad. The only problem was that he now had to _wait_ to keep talking until he'd finished chewing, since Lovi would probably kick him in the shin if he tried to talk without waiting... "Don't you think we should go looking for the others soon?"

"Why? It's actually somewhat quiet for once. Or it will be once you shut up, at least."

Antonio pouted. So not cute. "But, what if they're playing a game without us? We should be there to help our team."

"Probably over." And Antonio almost dropped his sandwich when that unexpectedly deep voice cut in. Coming from the still emotionless figure sitting across from them.

Antonio got over that surprise quickly, though. Since Johnson had _finally_ talked to him! Now that could have a real conversation! "It's over? Did we miss a game?" That would be really sad if they'd missed a game; his team would probably be really upset with him...

Then again, it wouldn't be _really _sad, since he'd gotten to spend the entire afternoon with Lovi. Kissing her and holding her and telling her how much he loved her and how pretty she was and how happy he was going to be when he married her. And that was really much more important than playing a game. Besides, he could always make it up to them later!

Johnson nodded once in response. "Mud game."

"Mud game?" Lovi repeated. "They played a game involving _mud_?"

Johnson nodded again.

She shook her head and wrinkled her nose in distaste. Then leaned _slightly_ closer to Antonio, who of course took the movement as her giving him permission to wrap his arm around her and pull her closer. And he immediately smiled when her only response was a light nudge against his side with her elbow. She didn't even _try _to escape from his embrace.

"We should definitely stay here, then," she remarked after a moment. "And hope that nobody finds us, since they're all going to be absolutely _covered_... Which means that I won't get to use the shower tonight, damn it."

Antonio squeezed her closer, grinning when she gently nuzzled her nose against his shoulder. Lovi was so _cuteee~_

The moment didn't last long, though. As it was interrupted by the sound of the door to the cafeteria suddenly smashing open. Hard enough that it _bounced _against the wall, probably leaving a dent.

And standing in the doorway was Leon.

Absolutely _covered _with partially-dried mud. Head to toe. Some of it still wet and dripping onto the formerly clean floor. Antonio had the momentary thought that it was probably good that none of the workers were around right now, since they'd probably be rather angry about that.

And Leon didn't look like he was in the mood to deal with angry cafeteria workers, as his chest was heaving, as if he had just run a marathon to arrive here. His hands were clenched into fists against his sides...

And his eyes were _blazing _with something that Antonio immediately recognised as absolute _fury_...

"_Johnson_!" And both Antonio and Lovina flinched at that tone _and_ began to scoot backwards as he stomped into the room—leaving behind a trail of muddy footprints. Not that either of them really needed to back away, as he headed straight toward Johnson.

Who didn't even _blink_ at the positively _murderous _tone in his partner's voice.

...Antonio probably would have been begging for mercy at this point. He'd never even seen _Lovi _get this angry before. Which was saying something.

"_You—_" And he'd reached Johnson by this point and was now leaning forward so that their faces were only a few inches away. One hand resting on the table to support his weight, the other still clenched into a fist and resting against his leg.

And Johnson _still _didn't visibly respond.

You know, maybe Johnson _couldn't _show emotion. That would explain some things.

...Antonio would feel rather sad if that was the case. Poor Johnson. That would be really sad to not be able to smile or do anything like that.

His train of thought didn't have the chance to travel along that track for very long, though. As Leon's voice continued with its shockingly threatening tone, apparently startling Lovi enough that she squeezed even closer to Antonio's side.

"You_ abandoned me _with_ them_!"

Antonio was pretty sure that Johnson didn't respond. At least not audibly. Although Leon _acted _like he had. As he took a step backwards, eyes narrowing as he crossed his arms over his chest and _glared _down at his partner.

"You _abandoned _me with _them_! Just because I told Gill that you were going on a date is no reason to abandon me to _mud_! With Gillian! _And_ Francis!"

Antonio wondered what was so bad about playing in the mud with Gillian and Francis. That sounded like fun to him. Not as fun as spending time with Lovi, though, so it was okay that he missed it.

"I'm _filthy_ and I have mud in places where _nothing _like that has the right to be and this is _all your fault_..." And Leon's voice was starting to slip from furious to just really upset. Antonio wasn't sure if that was better or worse than the really angry tone. "Which means that _you _are helping me find a shower and clothing and then we're _leaving_..."

"Okay." And Johnson rose at that, the almost immediate response apparently startling Leon. As he ended up taking a quick step backwards and just stared at him for a moment.

Before hurriedly continuing with an "Oh...okay. Then... we can check the car first. I don't think I have any extra clothes in there, but you never know."

And Antonio watched as they began walking toward the cafeteria door together. Leon leaving another set of footprints right beside to the first set. Yeah, the cafeteria workers were going to be very very upset about that.

And Johnson just followed, digging his hands around in his jacket pockets for a moment before he fished out a carton. Cigarette carton, it looked like...

His attention was distracted from them, however, by the sudden clearing of a throat beside him. Coming from _Lovi_. And as soon as he heard _that _sound, he immediately returned his complete interest to her.

"We should probably go somewhere else," she remarked once he'd turned to look at her. And then she dug her elbow harder into his side, which he took as a sign that she wanted to be let go.

Of course, he pouted in response, but then he obeyed the silent order.

"Before my idiot sister and your idiot friends find us and decide to get _us _covered in mud," she continued.

Antonio frowned at the comment. But that didn't sound _bad_... He liked playing in mud. He, Gillian, and Francis used to play in mud all the time when they were kids.

But then again, Lovi was basically asking him to spend more time with her alone, right?

And Antonio would _never _turn down that sort of request.

Which was why he answered with a bright smile and almost spastic nod. "Okay, Lovi! Let's go!"

* * *

A/N: It rather amuses me how Antonio and Lovina are totally off on their own for most of this. Don't they know that camp is about building friendships and teamwork and...stuff like that? I don't know. That's what they always told me. ;P

And muddy muddy muddy. One thing that I'm pretty sure that none of these guys thought about before getting themselves covered in mud... Where in the world are they gonna wash it off? Silly sillies.

Oh, and because it always needs to be said. Poor Leon. He doesn't like the muddy mud _and_ his partner is evil and devious and abandoned him to suffering at the hands of Gillian and Francis. Mwahaha.

Oooh, and you know how I told you guys before that I got into our school's publication? Well, today I went to our literary group thing's meeting to celebrate the publication. And they asked me to read my story aloud! And the editor of the magazine told me that it was actually their favourite piece of prose that they received! :D *happy clap* I seriously turned like five shades of red when he said that. Lol.


	39. Chapter 39: Kiku

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 39**

What had he just _done_?

...No, it hadn't happened. It _hadn't happened_. There was just no way. No possible way that he could have possibly done that...

It had just been a dream. Yes, that was it. That _had _to be it, because there was no other explanation that made any sense at all.

Although, that last, incredibly _desperate_ hope was rather effectively dashed when he felt a rather noticeable shifting against his side—his _bare _side—coupled with the sounds of rustling. Leaves being crushed under a rather heavy weight.

"Mm, Kiku?" And he winced at the husky voice. Whispering right into his ear. Sending a jolt of _something _through his body as his stomach flipped around in panic.

How? Why? What in the world had possessed him? ...And _outside_! In the _woods_? What had he been _thinking_?

Actually, he was pretty sure that he _hadn't _been thinking. He hadn't been thinking for most of this _week_. The more time he spent with Heracles—and that time had increased _dramatically_ since they'd arrived here—the easier it was to just let go and not worry or think about the repercussions of his actions.

Too easy, apparently. As evidenced by the fact that he was currently lying in the dirt. In the middle of the woods. Bare except for a layer of dried mud and...other substances that he'd rather not think about. With Heracles's arms loosely wrapped around his midsection, the other boy's teeth gently nipping at his neck as he sleepily murmured things that Kiku was attempting to ignore. Although they sent more tingles down into his stomach.

"He—Heracles-san..." And he was immediately cut off by a slightly harder nip under his ear. He flushed, clearing his throat nervously as he attempted to squirm free. Entirely unsuccessfully, as the grip instead tightened. "H—Hera-kun, let go."

There was a moment of hesitation, but then the arms retracted and he could sit up and _ow..._

_Ow. Ow. Ow... _

Okay, that hurt a lot more than he had expected. He almost wanted to lie back down and curl up into a ball for a while. _Ow_...

"You want me to find your clothes?" And it didn't help _anything _when he felt Heracles sit up, their skin brushing in a way that sent thrills of heat through his body, most of it probably pooling in his face at the unnecessary reminder that he was currently sitting in the middle of the woods, entirely _nude_.

"H—hai..."

Which Heracles apparently didn't mind at all... Then again, Heracles had never been shy about showing off his body—with good reason, as there was nothing there that he should feel self-conscious about. He just stood up and headed toward a clump of bushes where Kiku could see a little glimpse of white fabric. Not his shirt, though, as he could see when Heracles lifted it up...

Although, Heracles threw it toward him anyway and Kiku—more out of desperation to cover himself up than anything else—slid it on.

_Why _had he come out here? How could he have been so...so..._spontaneous_? That wasn't at all like him...

And he watched in a sort-of daze as Heracles continued to walk around—absolutely shamelessly—picking up discarded articles of clothing. Which had been spread _all _over the place... Kiku could feel his face flushing to possibly-dangerous levels as he watched the other male wander farther and farther away in search of their clothing.

Maybe it had something to do with the tug-of-war game? He'd been surrounded by screaming and adrenaline and that sort of excitement... Maybe _that _was what had talked him into going with Heracles. A mixture of all of those factors had convinced him to go with the other boy...

They'd both fallen into the mud pit rather early on in the game. Which Kiku hadn't been especially happy about, but at least it meant that he hadn't been forced to continue tugging on that rope for the rest of the game. All he'd had to do was sit there and watch as his team kept tugging on the rope until the point when Feliciana had jumped on Ludwig and sent the rest of the team into the pit as well. And then he'd watched as Gillian decided to get revenge...

She'd still been speaking when he'd felt a slight tug on his hand. And he then lifted his head to look into Heracles's mud-streaked face, which was really almost ridiculous-looking. He probably looked exactly the same, though.

He'd felt the tug again and he'd seen the sort-of hunger in the other boy's eyes as they gazed at each other, neither paying any attention to the chaos that was beginning to surround them. Mixed with that hunger and desire, though, was a question. A request for permission, asking if this was okay and if he _wanted_ to come with him.

He hadn't even stopped to think about what he was saying yes to. He'd just immediately risen to his feet, stumbling slightly as they made their way out of the mud pit. Following him without another thought. Followed him into the woods and away from the screaming and shouting of the others as the mud fight continued.

"You all right?" And he was brought back to the present as Heracles returned, arms filled with a variety of mud-splattered clothing. Eyes filled with concern.

And for a moment, Kiku didn't respond. As he sat there and thought and stared down at his hands, which were almost entirely-covered by Heracles's too-long sleeves.

What _had_ he just done? Probably the most spontaneous thing that he'd ever done in his life...

Which, he couldn't bring himself to regret.

"Hai." He lifted his head to look up into the taller boy's eyes—much taller now, since he was still sitting down. "Hai. I'm...I'm very good."

And he really was...

* * *

A/N: Super short chapter for you. Since it felt nice to just leave it there.

Kiku and Heracles are adorable. They make me happy :)

Mm, let's see... So, this will probably be my last chapter before Tora-con. Which I'm super excited about. First anime convention ever! :D If anybody else is going (besides those that I already know are gonna be there)... You can try to look out for me, but I'm not going to be sticking out at all. xD I'll have my green Hetalia shirt one day and my Resident Evil shirt the other. And my awesome army-green newsboy hat at least one of the days. That's about as specific as I can get...

Although, if you happen to see someone dressed up as Seychelles and carrying around a ridiculously huge dolphin on one of the days (and that dolphin is _ridiculously_ huge), then that's one of my friends. And I'll probably be around her somewhere. (Slash, at some points I am totally stealing that dolphin, too... So if you see someone carrying around a ridiculously huge dolphin and grinning like an idiot, then that's probably me. xD)

What else... Oh, this is for anyone who's reading Behind the Veil. So, I noticed that for the last chapter I got a _ton _less reviews than usual. Which is fine, since if people don't want to review, then that's fine... (Reviews do make me very very happy, though, and they help inspire me so it's very nice when people review, just saying). But I thought it was a little odd that the difference was so stark and was wondering if that was because I did something. If people weren't happy with where the story was going or I took so long updating that people lost interest...

So yes, just curious. And if it's anything that I can fix, then I'll definitely try to fix it...

Um, oh, and there's a new poll up too. ;D


	40. Chapter 40: Feliciana

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 40**

"Ve~ I'm sorry, Ludwig. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Feliciana hated it when Ludwig looked angry. She really really hated it. It made her feel sad and Ludwig always looked so scary and sternwhen he was angry, too... And it was especially bad when she wasn't sure whether he was angry at _her _or not.

She hadn't meant to make him drop the rope in the game. It had just _hurt _so badly when the rope rubbed against her hands, tearing at the skin of her palms. She hadn't expected it to hurt that badly. And her first instinct when she was in pain was to turn to Ludwig, since he was always good at making her feel better, especially when he turned bright red and stumbled over his words, looking absolutely adorable. It made her want to hug him.

So she'd just jumped to grab onto him when the rope rubbed her hands raw. Unfortunately, that had startled him badly enough that he ended up dropping the rope, sending the rest of the team flying forward into the mud.

Then, later, Gill had come and pushed both of them into the mud pit as well. Which Feli hadn't minded much, since she thought that it was kind of fun to play in the mud, but she knew that Ludwig really hated being dirty.

"I'm really sorry, Ludwig."

And now he sighed, turning his head to glance back at her. His blue eyes switching from his angry expression to something softer and much nicer. "It's fine, Feli. It's not your fault."

"Ve~" She smiled back, skipping forward so she could grab onto Ludwig's arm and nuzzle her head against his bicep. "But if I hadn't grabbed you, then you wouldn't be all muddy."

Then again, he _really_ wouldn't have been muddy if Gillian hadn't decided to push him into the mud. Big sister Gill had pushed _lots_ of people into the mud, which most of them hadn't seemed very happy about.

"It's fine, Feli. We can just take a shower and it'll be okay." Ludwig continued walking, apparently not minding her clinging to his arm. They were within sight of the cabin that held most of the camp's showers; she could already see that most of the rest of their mud-covered group had arrived and were now surrounding the building.

It was hard to tell who was who, since everyone was all covered in mud. Although she could hear Lizzie's voice rising above everyone else's...

"There is no way that I'm kissing her!"

Eli's voice came now, sounding smug. "A bet is a bet."

Feli began pulling harder on Ludwig's arm in an attempt to make him move faster. She wanted to see what was happening!

Lizzie wasn't quite as dirty as a lot of the others—everything from the waist down was filthy, but the rest of her was only splattered with dried mud. Feliciana could easily tell her apart, standing on the outskirts of the group with her hands resting against her hips. Glaring at someone standing across from her; Feli assumed that was Eli, since Lizzie generally saved that glare from either her brother or Gill. And she could see Gill—the muddiest of them all—a few feet away, talking to Francis.

"It wasn't a fair bet!"

Ludwig sighed and began walking faster, probably wanting to stop Eli and Lizzie from fighting with each other... Feli skipped along beside him, hugging his arm as tightly as she could. Ludwig was always trying to keep people from fighting; it was so nice of him.

Eli was now mimicking his sister by standing in the same position with his hands on his hips. He was smirking, looking very very proud of himself. "You're the one who agreed to it. You lost, so now you've got to kiss Gillian."

"Hey!" Gill now turned from Francis, who took that chance to slip away and start walking toward the door leading into the shower cabin. "Who said that I _want _to kiss her? Doesn't awesome get a say in this?"

"Aw, come on." Eli now turned toward her, looking a little put-out. "It's just for a couple minutes. It's not like I'm asking you guys to actually _do _anything..." His lips twitched slightly as he glanced back toward his sister, who was now holding Miksa.

Feli was often very impressed by how fast she and Eli could get their frying pans out of their bags. It was almost like they were magic, ve~!

"Not that I would be _adverse _if you two decide to _do something_." And now he winked.

...Feli wondered what he meant by that. She lifted her head toward Ludwig, wanting to ask him—since Ludwig knew all about lots of things—but he immediately shook his head toward her in a 'don't ask' sort of motion. Well, maybe she could ask someone else later.

"Ew~ That's disgusting." Gillian stuck her tongue out toward the boy and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, _Elijah_, but there's no way I'm going to kiss Lizzie. Because one..." She held a single finger up. "She's totally unawesome and gross and two..." Another finger. "I'm way too awesome to cheat on my girlfriend like that."

And that remark was answered by complete silence, as people either just stared at Gill with various shocked expressions—Feli noticed that Roderich's entire face had paled, strangely enough—or turned to glance toward Mattie.

Who had been talking with her sister up to this point. But now she froze, turning her head slightly toward Gillian, cheeks turning a bright red colour as she noticed all the eyes on her. It was kind of like how Lovi looked when Antonio called her a tomato.

Hmm, now that Feli thought about it, she hadn't seen her sister in a while.

...Oh well, she was probably just playing with Antonio somewhere.

"G—girlfriend?" Eli was gaping at Gill, mouth wide open and his eyes huge.

Gill nodded, and then turned and walked over to Mattie, who was turning even redder. She slid an arm around her waist, tugging her close. Ignoring the dirty look that she received from Ally. "Yep. Mattie and I are dating, because she's the only person in the entire world who might be even more awesome than I am!"

Eli had a very funny expression on his face now, like he was either about to start laughing or pass out. "Dating?" And his voice came out in a sort of squeak. Feli hoped he was feeling okay. "You're dating another _girl_?"

Lizzie also had an odd expression, although she looked more like she'd just smelled something bad—like Arthur's cooking. And she was now staring at her brother with a rather annoyed expression. "Don't you dar—"

She was interrupted, though, by Eli bursting into very loud laughter. And then he yelled out, startling Feli in the process so she ended up hiding behind Ludwig, "Dude, that's like one hundred and fifty-eight points for me!"

Points?

"How is that one fifty-eight?" And now Lizzie took a step forward, her grip tightening around Miksa's handle. "That's one forty-seven at most!"

"Nope." Feli flinched as Eli reached into his knapsack, pulling out a gleaming, slightly terrifying Berta... And she proceeded to cling even more tightly to Ludwig, attempting to simultaneously hold tightly to his arm _and_ hide behind his back—not entirely successfully. "I totally get extra _moe_ points, so one fifty-eight!"

"And she's dating _Gill_, so that gets rid of at _least _eleven points!"

"Hey!" Gill didn't sound happy about that.

"Ve~" They were now circling each other, each holding their frying pans out straight in front of them. But, at least they didn't look like they were about to attack _her_ with their scary frying pan weapons right now, so she decided to take the opportunity to tug on Ludwig's sleeve to get his attention. "Ve~ are they playing a game, Ludwig?"

She was a little surprised by Ludwig's reaction, as he suddenly slapped himself on the forehead... Which really looked like it hurt, so she didn't understand why he would suddenly do that to himself.

Her attention was distracted from Ludwig's self-injuring and the frying pan battle that was about to commence by the sound of the shower cabin's door creaking open. And then she watched with slight interest as Yao, Yong Soo, Feliks, Toris, and Raivis walked out, all dressed in clean clothes and carrying a bag that probably held their muddy clothes.

Or they were mostly dressed in clean clothes. Yong Soo was currently only wearing a pair of shorts, but he was holding a shirt in his hands and spinning it around as he ran ahead. Yao was glaring at him and it looked like he muttered something underneath his breath, but he was talking too quietly for her to hear so she couldn't be sure.

"Showers originated in Korea, da ze!"

The only one who wasn't carrying a bag was Feliks, but that was easily explained by the fact that Toris was currently carrying two. Following as the other boy complained, "Like, my clothes are totally ruined! I'm totally going to have to go buy new sandals as soon as we get home!"

Which, that remark made Feli frown a little bit as she turned her head to look up at Ludwig. Ve~ what if Ludwig's clothes had gotten all ruined by the mud? Would he be mad at her, since it was her fault that he fell in? She hadn't meant to ruin his clothes, but Ludwig liked to keep himself very very neat and...

And her attention was distracted again, as the door to the shower room reopened.

This time revealing a just-showered Leon. Who walked out with a rather large pile of clothing, most of which looked clean, besides the pair of very muddy sneakers and very muddy shirt sitting on top... And he was still wearing his muddy pants, although it looked like the mud had dried.

"Um," and he looked a little surprised to see everyone standing outside. "Sorry, I thought you guys went back to your cabins."

And there was Francis again! Feli had lost sight of him for a while.

He now made his way over to Leon, apparently being sneaky enough that he didn't notice him. Since he jumped really high when Francis suddenly leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Which Leon didn't look very happy to hear, since he sent Francis a scary glare before he turned and walked over to where Johnson was standing. Also looking scary.

Although Feli knew that Johnson wasn't really scary, since he was like Ludwig! He looked scary on the outside, but inside he was super nice!

And Leon was saying something to him about Johnson's clothes being too big and that they'd have to borrow some from someone else, which made sense, of course. Since Leon was a lot smaller than Johnson.

"Feli?"

Attention shift again, this time to Ludwig. "Sì, Ludwig?"

He paused for a moment, glancing over toward Francis. Who was still standing outside the cabin door, watching Leon with a smile... The sort of smile that Ludwig said meant that she shouldn't go near Francis anytime soon. "I'm going to go wash up now. You can go with Gill to the girls' showers and then we'll go to dinner, all right?"

"Ve~ okay, Ludwig!" That would be fun to take a shower with Gill, since Gill would probably be nice and help wash her hair. Feli thought that she'd probably need help, since her hair was all muddy and Lovi wasn't around to help her... She hoped Lovi wasn't eating without her, especially if it was pasta. What if she got there and there wasn't any left?

She decided that she shouldn't worry about that now. After all, Lovi wouldn't be mean enough to eat _all _of the pasta. Instead—it was still okay, since Ludwig hadn't gotten washed up _yet_—she hurriedly jumped up onto her tiptoes and gave her friend a huge hug. Then jumped down and sent him an excited wave. "I'll see you later! Maybe they'll have pasta!" Before turning, in the process, missing the tomato-red flush that immediately saturated his cheeks.

And she headed toward where Gill was standing with Mattie, talking and ignoring the fact that Eli and Lizzie were still fighting.

But at least they weren't hitting each other with their frying pans, so it was okay.

* * *

A/N: ...Oh, Feli. You're adorable, but totally oblivious and hard to write. ;D Since I can't really explain anything that's going on from her POV. *shakes head*

Eli and Lizzie are ridiculous and their "point" system will be explained later. So yeah. The basics should be relatively easy to understand though. They're just ridiculously competitive.

...Oh, and yes, there was random and blatant shirtless men fanservice in here. You're welcome. If you missed it, blame Feli. (And you can either be thankful or sad that this was not from Francis's POV *cough although the next one may be cough*).

May I also say that I find it amusing that for the poll about you guys' favourite story, this story is winning by 2/3 of the vote. ;D I have no idea why, but...glad you like it? Haha.

And lastly, so for the Leon and Johnson formspring. You guys seem determined to make it an "Ask anybody in the story questions" formspring. So, fine. Lol. Whatever. (Even Chris, apparently. Even though he hasn't been introduced yet outside of Leon talking to him on the phone and muse-chan and my random roleplaying on the formspring. xD) And I will get to everyone's questions. I'm semi-behind right now, but I promise that I will get to everyone's.


	41. Chapter 41: Francis

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 41**

How Francis loved it when a plan came together so splendidly. He honestly couldn't have _planned_ this to turn out any better than it had.

Since he knew that Arthur was already feeling the first twinges of paranoia beginning to seep into his mind—the first worries that Ally might just be attracted to someone else. Someone older, with a steady "heroic" job, a nice apartment, a very expensive car that may or may not have been Francis's at some point in time, and less bushy eyebrows. Those thoughts only partly due to the entirely _innocent _remarks that Francis may have been whispering in his ear since they'd finished their little mud fight.

As an entirely hypothetical example, Francis _may_ have leaned over at one point, while they were standing beside the mud pit and attempting to get the leaves and twigs out of their hair—not that Arthur's attempts were really doing any good, as Francis and Gillian had been rather thorough in their absolute _covering _of him in mud. And hadn't that been fun.

And Francis _may_ have murmured, while staring at where Allison happened to be standing near Leon, "Ah, it looks like I might have a rival for the affections of mon cher now. It seems that Allison has her eye on him as well. Not that I can blame her, non?"

Arthur had flashed him an annoyed glare and then turned away, pretending to ignore him.

Francis knew, though, that his little British friend wasn't as unaffected by his remarks as he'd like to pretend. Since he'd been catching Arthur giving the other two rather uncertain looks every so often. And, of course, it hadn't helped his suspicions at all when Gillian and Ally had their little fight over having Leon on their team...

Of course, to anyone else, it would have seemed like an entirely innocent argument. Particularly since Ally and Gill fought over absolutely everything... But Arthur was already being unreasonable, as he kept insisting that he wasn't good enough for the girl.

Ah, everything was working out so well. Francis barely had to do a _thing_. Just keep pointing out how attractive cher Leon was—very _very_ attractive, oui? And he was a cop—everyone knew that Ally liked cops and anyone in a "heroic" profession...

You know, Francis almost felt bad about playing with Arthur's emotions like this, actually...

_Almost_.

Not enough to stop, of course. Particularly not now, right when he was about to put the next part of his plan into action.

Although, he was starting to wonder if he'd have time to put the next stage into action before dinner. As Allison was taking _forever _to leave the shower... He'd been waiting for at least half an hour now, lying on a picnic table outside of the cabin where she and the other girls were showering, having already finished his own washing up. The only one out here at the moment, since most everyone else had decided to go to their cabins to get ready for dinner.

He had to admit that it was rather nice waiting out here, though. He hadn't bothered drying himself off entirely and was now just lying on the table in a pair of shorts, enjoying the feel of the water evaporating off his skin.

If she didn't come out soon, he might just end up falling asleep out here, actually... He still had plenty of time to get those two idiots together, after all.

He probably would have fallen asleep right then and there if it weren't for the shadow that suddenly fell between him and the sun... He blinked a few times before he could actually focus on the figure standing above him. And then he smirked. "Bonjour, cher. Did you come to join me?"

Leon was standing above him—he actually looked upside-down from Francis's current position, which amused him slightly—staring down at him with a neutral expression. Which was a step up from his usual glare. Although then he spoke, "Johnson and I are leaving."

And Francis immediately frowned, tilting his head backwards so he could get a better look at the other male. "You're leaving so soon? Pourquoi?"

"Because I don't have any clothes that aren't absolutely covered in mud." He sounded like he thought this should be made obvious by the fact that he was currently only wearing a pair of very mud-spattered jeans...

Mm... Which honestly, you couldn't really blame _anyone _for ogling the very attractive cop when he was walking around half-naked. As observed when he walked out of the showers earlier and Francis had noticed quite a few members of their group looking him over.

Having him here made Francis's job easier; he _could _continue planting those thoughts into Arthur's mind without the other male around, but it took much less effort when he was here.

"You could always borrow some of my clothes, cher."

Which he immediately refused, shaking his head somewhat violently... As Francis knew he would, since he was such a difficult individual. Really, it was a good thing that Francis rather enjoyed the challenge of bedding someone who liked playing hard-to-get. It made the end result all the sweeter.

"No, just tell Gillian that we went home. I know if I go and tell her, she'll just end up begging me to stay..." And he'd give in; Leon didn't need to finish that thought. Francis found it incredibly easy to see that he had a massive soft-spot when it came to Gillian. Which was understandable, since Gill was sweet and adorable and Francis was pretty sure that she wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for the fact that she was so loveable...

"I just came over..." He hesitated for a moment, which immediately caught Francis's attention. So he decided to pull himself up into a seated position, facing the man who sent him a slightly suspicious look before continuing. "I think that you should leave Arthur and that girl he likes alone. You know how Arthur is... He needs time to think about things and it'd be a lot easier for him if you don't muck around in something that don't actually concern you... Especially when you're also bringing me into it."

Ah, but l'amour always concerned Francis Bonnefoy! He was the master of l'amour after all. It was practically his _job_ to make sure that people who belonged together ended up together!

"And I told _you_, cher~" He leaned forward, staring up into the other male's bright blue eyes with his most innocent expression, while his hands snaked around his hips—not touching him yet, but resting there. It rather amused him how Leon had a tendency to forget his own 'three feet' rule when he was concentrating on something else. "If we let Arthur move at his own pace, then it will take _forever_ before he and Allison are a couple. That is why I am going to help!"

"Why?" Leon continued to stare down at him, completely focused, as if he thought he might figure out what he was thinking if he just concentrated hard enough. Francis responded with an amused smirk. "It'll work itself out eventually, and it really has nothing to do with you. I mean, I know that you and Arthur are friends—sort of. But, why don't you just deal with your own problems instead of worrying about everybody else's? You don't need to always be worrying about everyone else..."

And for a moment, Francis didn't respond to that. As he actually had been taken slightly off-guard by the statement. He just continued to watch him for a few moments.

...Before deciding that he didn't want to talk about this anymore.

No, so he instead tightened his grip around the other male and tugged him off balance with a sudden jerk of his arms. His palms falling against Francis's chest as he attempted to keep from stumbling...

And Francis didn't give him a chance to catch himself, as he immediately slid one of his arms from around the other male's hips and moved it to the back of his head, pressing downwards as he stretched his own body upwards and moulded their lips together.

Francis had always loved kissing people. Not surprisingly, since the kiss was one of the most basic declarations of l'amour...

He found it interesting as well, how you really could tell a lot about a person through their kiss. Some people were desperate and their kisses were sloppy and too fast and not-at-all enjoyable... Some people's kisses were refined and perfected, but almost mechanical. The type of person who had learned the proper skills but lacked any of the passion behind them. And then you had people like Leon, who you could easily tell had no real idea of what they were doing. Still at least mostly innocent... He'd always freeze up, not responding at all for a few moments. Francis would attempt to deepen the kiss and sometimes _almost _be successful... He could sometimes even feel the slight warring going on in the other male. Like part of him wanted to just go with the pleasurable feelings coursing through his body and the other part was telling him not to...

And then he'd always end up jerking out of his surprise and would shove him away, cheeks beet red with embarrassment.

Except that this time, they weren't interrupted by Leon's conscience. Instead, they were interrupted by an incredibly loud squeal and then a bright flash of light.

And Leon jerked away so fast that he ended up falling right back onto the grass and Francis thought he might have managed to give himself whiplash.

"Aw, shoot! I forgot to turn the flash off!"

Ah, so the girls had finally finished with their showers...

And most of them were now standing in a small group, staring at them with expressions ranging from horribly embarrassed (Mattie, who was almost as red as Leon) to unsure whether to be amused or incredibly confused (Gill), to severely aroused (Lizzie, aka: the one who had just interrupted them with her camera flash)...

And Allison was standing next to her sister, staring at them with a surprised expression.

To which Francis responded with a wide smile and then he jumped up, offering a hand to Leon, who ignored it and pulled himself to his feet. "I—he just—we weren't—"

"That was at least a two hundred and fifty! Maybe even three hundred! Oh, wait 'til I tell Eli!" And Lizzie wasn't going to give him a chance to explain himself. As she had already slid her phone out of her pocket and was dialling a number...

Francis knew he should probably take this opportunity to escape, since he was pretty sure that Leon was going to be ready to kill him in about five seconds. So he hurriedly slipped over to Allison, grabbing her hand, managing to startle her slightly as he did so.

"Allison, ma chéri… I'm sorry to ask you this, since I know that you must be busy, but I need help with something..."

And as soon as she heard the word 'help', she immediately perked up. Ah, how adorable. It was almost a shame that Arthur was so enamoured with her; if he wasn't, Francis might have a go himself... "You need help?"

"Oui, would you be—" And he didn't even get to finish his question, as she immediately removed herself from his grip and threw her arm into the air, pointing toward the sky.

"The hero is always ready to help those in need!"

"...Sure is, Eli. At least three hundred and twenty-five! Wait 'til you see the picture I got!"

"Francis! You—"

...Good enough for him, as Francis had a very strong feeling that it was time to go. "Then come! It's in my cabin!"

* * *

A/N: Oh, Franny. And Leon had to be humiliated at least once more before he probably leaves, yes? Yes. Because I'm a jerkface to the poor guy. Mwahaha.

And Ally, you really shouldn't trust Francis. You really shouldn't. Even if he's letting you be a hero.

Hmm, another eh chapter. But I blame that on the ridiculously obnoxious writer's block I've had for the past few days. It was starting to drive me crazy... Although it did lead to me playing Sims 3 again. I forgot how entertaining that game can be...especially when you name the Sims after your characters. (Hehe, I would go into the entertainingness of that, but I wrote a deviantart journal entry about it, so if you really want to know, you can find it there.)

And then the last few nights have been good and got me back into the writing mood, since I went out with my friend and got Chinese and watched Pushing Daisies and then last night we had Midnight Breakfast at my school and it was quite fun... And I watched more Pushing Daisies, which is a highly entertaining show.

And then! Last night I was on TVtropes and just chillin' and what not and I discovered that someone started a TVtropes article for this series! Which seriously made my life. Whoever did it, you are totally and completely awesome.

Link is: tvtropes . org / pmwiki / pmwiki . php /Main/ThePleasantvilleSeries


	42. Chapter 42: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 42**

Ally wasn't entirely sure what she had been expecting to find in Francis's cabin. She'd been so excited by his request that she be a hero and help him, that she hadn't even thought about what he might want her to do.

Whatever she had been expecting, it definitely wasn't what she found.

"Um, what's going on?"

As what she found inside were Feliks and Toris, who were sitting next to an _enormous_ pile of clothing on one of the bottom bunks. Feliks looking incredibly happy and excited while Toris just looked like he'd rather be somewhere else.

Francis had followed her inside the room and now pushed the door closed with a slightly-startling click. "Bonjour! I see that you got what I asked for..."

"Like, totally!" Feliks jumped up from his seat and rushed forward, grabbing onto Ally's wrist before she could react. "Like, we're gonna make you look like so totally fantabulous!"

Wha—?

"I'm sorry about this, Allison," Toris cut in, sending her an apologetic smile. "When he heard that you wanted to try on some of his outfits..."

Ally didn't bother listening to the rest of his apology, as she was way too confused by what he'd just said. What was he talking about? She'd never said anything about trying on any outfits.

"Why don't we try this pink one first?" And a fluffy, frilly pink _thing_ was suddenly thrust into her arms by a grinning Francis. "Toris set a changing room up right over there," he pointed toward a corner of the room, between two of the beds, where a blanket had been strung up to create a curtain. "Try it on and then come out so we can look at you."

"Huh?" And now she was suddenly being dragged toward the curtain by an overly-enthusiastic Feliks, who was rambling on about how 'like totes gorgeous you're gonna look!'

And then she found herself standing behind the curtain, unsure of what the heck had just happened.

They wanted her to try on this dress? But, why? She never really wore dresses, unless she had to for some reason.

"Wait, why do you want me to wear this?" she called toward the others as she picked it up and shook it out. Dude, it wasn't even a really _pretty _dress. It was just way too short and baby pink-coloured and low-cut.

"Just put it on, chéri," Francis called back.

You know, when Francis had asked for her help, Ally had sort of been hoping that he'd want her help doing something totally heroic. But, then again, she supposed that there must be a reason for this. So she sighed and toed her sneakers off, glaring at the pink fluff-monster.

It wasn't that she _hated _wearing dresses; they just reminded her of all those times when she was a kid and was forced to dress up in a little frilly dress and go to one of her aunt's houses. Where she and Mattie would have to sit on one of the couches and listen to her mom and aunts talking about boring grown-up stuff for hours...

Whatever. She pulled it on, frowning down at herself as she spun around a couple times... Hmm, at least it was one of those fun dresses that would spin around your legs when you twirled. But she still looked so _weird_.

"Like come out and let us see!" Feliks suddenly called, startling her back to reality.

Okay, well maybe after she tried on the dress, she could go on and do something heroic! Or go bother Artie. Since she hadn't seen him since the mud fight and he was probably missing her heroic self.

Although, that hope was immediately dashed when she walked out from behind the curtain and was greeted by three pairs of eyes staring at her.

"Like," Feliks was the first to speak from his spot standing next to the piles of clothing. "I totes think she'd look better in the red one."

"She looks fine." Francis waved the suggestion away, taking a few steps closer to Ally. "We don't have much time to work before dinnertime. And we haven't even started on her hair and make-up and I imagine her nails are filthy after that mud fight."

Eh?

"Besides," and suddenly he was standing right in front of her, looking down with a leer. "The cut on this top is very nice, oui. Mon cher Arthur has always been a fan of les seins."

Ally blinked in confusion. Artie? "Wait, what's going on with Artie?"

You know, it was kind of annoying how Francis would just switch to French sometimes in the middle of his sentences. How was she supposed to know what he was talking about if he didn't speak English? She really had no idea what was going on, but apparently it involved Artie?

Francis didn't respond immediately, as he just grinned and then motioned toward a chair facing the wall. "Sit. Sit, ma chéri. I will explain while Feliks and I work to make you look trés belle."

...Okay?

She obeyed, walking across the room and dropping into the seat with a slight huff. This was totally the worst hero job ever.

And suddenly somebody was _attacking her head_, tugging her hair out by the roots...

"Oww!" Okay, this was officially not cool! "Quit it! What are you guys _doing_?"

"We're, like, totes making you look gorgeous!"

"Feliks, maybe you should be a little more care—"

Pulling hair...Pulling hair...Owwww~!

"Dude, quit it!" And now she reached back and grabbed onto the evil, demon comb that was attacking her head, tugging it out of the boy's hand. "What the heck are you guys doing?"

"Toris, why don't you do Allison's hair?" And now Francis reappeared from wherever he'd disappeared to during the aforementioned torture, holding three bottles of nail polish. One dark blue, one red, and one white.

Okay, that was kind of cool... Super American patriotism!

"We are just helping you, ma chéri." She blinked down at him as he lifted her hand out and began painting her nails. And she could feel someone combing her hair again, much more gently. "We are going to help you gain the affection of a certain stubborn Brit."

The longer she stayed here, the more confused she got. "Huh?"

"Mademoiselle Allison." Francis paused in his painting of her nails to look up at her, flashing a bright smile at her. "Both you and Arthur are being surprisingly stubborn when it comes to this. It is almost more than even _I _can handle. And I am an expert at l'amour."

...She kind of wanted to text Arthur now. Since she was really confused about what was going on.

Or, even better, maybe she could ask Mattie to come over and take over for her. Since this was definitely not a very heroic job. Mattie would probably _like_ this random dressing up and she'd actually be able to understand what Francis was saying.

"I suppose that I must just say it." Francis sighed as he stared up at her. "Although it's so much more fun if you figure it out on your own, but I don't think I have the patience required to wait much longer. So, Mademoiselle Allison, I suppose that I must be the one to inform you of the fact that you are rather madly in love with our very own grouchy, temperamental, tacky, cranky, tasteless Brit."

_What?_

Dude, what?

In love with _Artie_? That was probably the craziest thing she'd ever heard. Okay, apparently Francis didn't know anything about people who were in love. Since those kinds of people were all goo-goo eyed and called each other pet names and would hold hands and blush every time they so much as laid eyes on each other. She and Artie argued all the time. He called her a git, she insulted his food... Back and forth like that. Not at all like people 'in love'.

That was pretty much the most ridiculous idea she'd ever heard. All she could really do right now was _laugh_ at how ridiculous the idea sounded. "Haha. Good one, Fran..."

"It is the truth, ma chéri." Francis wasn't laughing, though. As, instead, he looked oddly serious. "It's really very obvious..."

"Like, yeah, like totes obvious!" And Feliks interrupted, nodding sagely in agreement with her French classmate. "And I like, call dibs on designing your wedding dress."

Okay, _what_?

So, the mud fight must have gotten to them. Because they were just talking crazy-talk. Maybe she could even be a hero and take them to get checked out by the nurse. "Artie and I aren't a couple. We're just BFF's."

"Of course, I do not expect you to take my word for it, chéri." Francis had returned to painting her nails with the patriotic nail polish. "It is just something to think about, oui? You two are very close. You enjoy spending time together. You would not be happy if he dated another girl, oui?"

Her stomach did a weird flip at that. Almost like she was getting sick...

"I'm sure you're aware of the fact that he's attractive, non? Besides those monstrous eyebrows, of course."

Hey! Artie's eyebrows were part of what made him Artie! He'd totally look weird without them.

"And it is quite obvious that he has similar feelings, although he is much too stubborn to admit them. But I am not even requiring that you take my words for that. Since we are going to dress you up like this to make you positively irresistible to mon cher Arthur..."

"You're gonna be, like, totally fantabulous!"

"You just watch his reactions, Mademoiselle Allison, and you will see that he will be unable to resist you."

...Yeah, these guys were crazy.

Although she was pretty sure that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this, since Francis and Feliks seemed very determined to get her dressed up.

You know, she was starting to wish that she hadn't agreed to help Francis. Because she definitely wasn't feeling especially heroic right now. She just felt really confused.

Her liking Artie? She definitely didn't... She kept picturing Arthur's face—particularly that time when they'd been in the woods. When she'd been upset and he'd come to get her.

She'd felt...a little odd then. A little flippy and happy that he'd come to get her.

But she wasn't in _love _with him. That was just silly.

_Right_?

* * *

A/N: Poor Ally. So confusing.

Not much to say.

Um, I mentioned somewhere that I was considering writing a collection of short stories this summer to sell. And I've thought about it more and decided that that's something I really think would be a good idea. Especially since I had a dream a few nights ago that ties together a whole bunch of story ideas that've been haunting me for a while into one collection.

...It's going to be rather difficult to write them all, since the stories are really complex and pretty and very thematic and intense. But now I'm determined! And since I'm 90% sure that I'm not getting a job this summer, I'll have lots of free time. (Which could be a good or bad thing when it comes to my productivity... We'll see. Not having stuff to do sometimes makes me less productive because I get very bored and stir-crazy... Ugh. ;P)


	43. Chapter 43: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 43**

It had been about three hours since Arthur had last seen either Ally or Francis.

And he knew that was _definitely_ not a good sign.

Especially since he was currently seated at a table in the cafeteria—of course, right next to an overly excited Feliciana who was rambling on about art or something like that—waiting for dinner to be served. And Ally was nowhere to be seen.

Which was definitely strange, because that girl _never _missed a meal. Arthur was pretty sure that she wouldn't skip a meal, even if she were lying in her bunk dying. She would drag herself out of bed and _crawl_ to the cafeteria if she had to.

The fact that she wasn't here set off immediate warning bells in his mind.

What could the two of them be planning? They'd both already had their chance to attack him today; Gill and Francis had _covered _him in mud during the tug of war match and then Al had jumped on him because she thought he was a mud monster or something ridiculous like that.

And then had apparently decided that _tackling _him wasn't enough and that she also had to _sit _on him.

...Which could have led to an incredibly awkward situation if she hadn't decided to get off of him when she did.

Anyway, he wasn't thinking about that. He should instead be trying to figure out where those gits were right now and what they could be planning.

What also made things even weirder was the fact that Al wasn't answering her cell phone. He'd sent her a couple texts earlier, one asking her if she'd finished with her shower and then another later asking her whether she wanted to head down to dinner with him... Because that was the polite, gentlemanly thing to do. And she hadn't responded to either of them.

Although...

Arthur glanced around the room again at that thought, eyes carefully searching the rest of the group. Leon and Johnson weren't here either.

...Not that that necessarily meant anything, of course. He wasn't about to start listening to that idiotic frog about anything. And even if it _did _mean something, why would he care? Allison could like whoever she wanted to like. He should even be _encouraging _it, since all of their problems would be solved if she happened to fall in love with someone else.

And if she were going to fall in love with someone else, then it might as well be Leon. Since he was older, more mature, more responsible, had a steady job (or, if you were Al, a 'heroic' job), had his own apartment, a car... Plus, he was actually a really nice guy and he was reasonably attractive.

Although, then again, Arthur wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing. He was older than her after all and Al probably shouldn't go out with someone _too _attractive. If she went out with someone who was _too _appealing, then she'd have to deal with all of those jealous girls.

He knew better than anyone—besides probably Francis—what some of those bitches were like when they were jealous. And he'd sooner break all of their perfectly-manicured fingers _one by one _than let any of them put Ally through any of their shit.

So it really would be a bad idea if she dated Leon, since he was pretty sure that there'd be a _lot _of jealous girls. Especially after that drunk driving assembly.

...And hadn't _that_ just been a terrible day. Because of courseMr. Roma hadn't bothered to inform him of the identity of the two officers who were going to be giving the assembly. Incredibly annoying, since he was the _student council president _and all. Also hadn't told him that he had the job of showing them the way to the theatre, so he'd almost had a heart attack when he walked into his office and right into six foot something of ridiculously-muscled policeman who just _stared _at him in response.

And then they'd given the assembly and at least ninety percent of the females in the school, including teachers, and probably a decent percentage of the males had fallen head over heels. Arthur remembered that at the time he'd been incredibly happy that both Ally and Mattie were out of school with the flu for the week.

Anyway, he'd lost his train of thought. He shouldn't be thinking about who Al may or may not like. Not when she _still _hadn't shown up to dinner. Which they were serving now.

And that was when the door to the cafeteria slammed open. Managing to startle everyone who had just started standing up into freezing, probably taking a few years off of most everyone's life.

"Like, ladies and gentleman! Get ready for the most totes fabulous thing that you have, like, ever seen in your lives! Omigawd, none of you are like going to believe your eyes when you see the fabulousness that we managed!"

...Arthur could already feel the impeding headache. Which only increased when the next person walked through that door. The fucking frog.

Although, Arthur was rather surprised when he didn't immediately start walking toward him. Instead, he just smirked at him and then turned his head and said something, much too quiet for Arthur to hear, to someone who must be standing outside.

What in the wor—

And every single one of Arthur Kirkland's mental faculties shut down in the next few seconds.

_Oh God..._

She was standing in the doorway, looking uncommonly nervous. Probably because every eye in the entire room was on her right now and at least three people had dropped various articles of silverware that clattered against the floor.

Pink. She was wearing a pink and frilly dress—_had he ever even seen her in a dress before?—_thatswished around her knees as she took a few steps forward. And strappy heels that made her legs look miles long. And the dress was low-cut..._ Very low-cut. _He hurriedly raised his eyes from that. Knowing that his ears were probably bright red. _Damn it, this had to be Francis's fault_. And her hair had been curled and pulled up into a bun—_he'd definitely never seen her with her hair up before, besides in a little ponytail while she played sports or something_—a few curls allowed to hang loose and frame her face.

And she was wearing _make-up_.

"V—Ve~?"

That word—or sound or _whatever_ it was—finally managed to break the confused silence that had descended upon the room.

"Ally? What in the world are you wearing?" Mattie.

"Ve~ you look so pretty, Ally!" Feliciana.

"See, I told you they would like it, ma chérie!" Frog git.

"Like, I totally told you guys!" Feliks.

And she was looking straight at him; their eyes met from across the room.

And fucking bloody fucking hell. He was supposed to be _getting over _her. He was the one who'd told Francis (this had to be his fault) that he wasn't good enough for her. And looking at her like this just made him even more aware of that fact...

"Hey, Artie!" And she was walking toward him now, wobbling slightly in the unfamiliar heels.

At least her voice was the same and she plopped down into the seat right beside him like normal, flashing him one of her bright—_incredibly beautiful, but he shouldn't be thinking about that —_smiles toward him.

This was just too strange. She looked gorgeous of course... Absolutely beautiful. But, this was just too bizarre. Ally never wore dresses or make-up or anything like that.

"Aren't you going to say anything to our _belle_, mon ami?" And the frog had decided to join them. Of course. And said frog was now leaning over Ally's shoulder, his gaze lowering to _where it had no right to be lowering and if he didn't stop right now, Arthur was going to make sure that he forever regretted ever laying eyes on her..._

She was staring at him expectantly now. And he started talking before he'd even taken the time to think through what he wanted to say. "You..." _look beautiful, but why the hell are you dressed like this? You look completely uncomfortable. _"You..."

Yeah, he couldn't think of anything to say. So he proceeded to do what he did best...

"You're late, git. We'd better hurry up and get our supper before everyone else eats it all."

Be a complete and utter ass.

* * *

A/N: FAIL ARTIE FAIL! =.=

Ugggh, whyyyyyyyyy must you be so stubborn, Artie? Ally dressed up all pretty for you and you just have to be stubborn and... urrrgh.

Although I do love his inner thoughts. Such as inner death threats against Francis. *snickers* Oh, Arthur. You're so in love, stop beating yourself up about it and accept it, you silly boy.

And I feel like I should write about that drunk driving assembly at some point. In which Leon unconsciously forced a vast amount of teenage girls (and their teachers and some boys as well) to realise that they had a uniform kink. Not that I can blame them. ;)


	44. Chapter 44: Mattea

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 44**

You know, Mattie was used to weird happenings. You couldn't live in Pleasantville for very long without getting used to weird happenings, after all. And you _definitely_ couldn't date Gillian without getting used to weird happenings.

But seeing her sister in a dress at dinner? That had almost been too much for her mind to handle.

"Thirty-love!"

And that shout suddenly brought her back to reality. Leaving her with barely enough time to duck as a tennis ball came rocketing toward her face. And then completed its path when it smashed against the chain link fence behind her.

"Another point for Awesome! Kesekesekese~"

And this probably wasn't the best place to be thinking about her sister's surprising wardrobe change, as Mattie was currently involved in a tennis match against Gill. And she was losing absolutely horrendously. They'd already played three games and she'd lost every single one without scoring a single point.

She was getting a little tired of this, actually. Gill was just too good at this game and she was currently too distracted by her thoughts.

Ally must have decided to dress like that in an attempt to get Arthur's attention. That was the only reasonable explanation for why she would completely change her appearance... But if that was true, then did it mean that Ally had _finally _realised that she liked him?

Mattie _really_ hoped so. Arthur was a great guy after all, and it was pretty ridiculous that he and her sister weren't dating already. Everyone knew that they liked each other after all. They were _always_ together, both inside and outside of school. Their mom already considered Arthur to be part of the family—and Mattie knew for a fact that she was already planning the wedding that was sure to come. Eventually.

Ally and Arthur were the only people in the entire _school_ who didn't realise that they were a couple.

"Come on, Mattie!" Gill's shout brought her back to the present. "Get'cha head in the game!"

Mattie was a little surprised when her girlfriend paused for a moment, her smile falling. But then a wide smirk stretched across her lips as she bounced her tennis ball against the court. And then, "Yeah, Mattie. You gotta get'cha head in the game. You gotta get'cha, get'cha, get'cha, get'cha head in the game!"

Apparently Gillian had just managed to completely distract herself, as she now started singing while bouncing the tennis ball on the court and dancing.

...Yeah, you really had to get used to weird stuff when you were dating someone like Gill.

It was part of why Mattie loved her...

Anyway, back to thoughts of Ally. Since Gill was off in her own little world. Thoughts of Ally and Arthur and their hopefully soon-to-be relationship.

So, Ally had probably dressed like that in an attempt to attract Arthur's attention. Mattie had no doubt that Francis had been the mastermind of that little plan. It seemed like something he'd come up with and everyone knew that their French classmate _adored_ butting his nose into other people's relationships.

Ally had dressed up like that, but Arthur hadn't seemed to really respond. Although Mattie hadn't really been paying that much attention to him at first, since she'd been dealing with her own shock at seeing her sister dressed like that. She hadn't even _thought _about Arthur until Francis had suddenly slapped him.

Yeah, that had been a surprise. Although it had really been a blessing in disguise actually... Arthur apparently said something that angered Francis, which led to the slap that managed to distract everyone's attention from Ally. Which was good, as it was obvious that she felt uncomfortable.

"So, what was up with your sister earlier?" Mattie was slightly surprised by the sudden actually-normal question coming from the other girl. Who was now bouncing her tennis ball on her racket without even looking at it... "She actually looked like a _girl _for once."

Well, that sort of ruined it. "Be nice, Gill. And I don't really know exactly what was going on."

Mattie hadn't talked to her sister since the incident. Although she _had _made sure to watch her during the meal. Not that it had helped much, since she hadn't been able to read much from Ally's facial expressions. She'd _seemed _to be acting normal, but it was hard to tell sometimes. She knew that her sister had a tendency to push things aside when she was upset—pretend that everything was going wonderfully and all that.

"You think that Ally and Arthur like each other, right?" she decided to ask instead.

"Psh." Gillian suddenly threw the ball into the air and then proceeded to _spike _it so hard that Mattie didn't even have the chance to _think_ about returning it. Then she smirked and began walking over toward Mattie's side of the net. "Of course they do. Why are you even asking? Eyebrows totally has the hots for your sis. Don't ask me why, though."

"You've been friends with him for a really long time, right?"

Gill didn't really seem to be all that interested in talking about Arthur and Ally, as shown when she just shrugged as she walked toward Mattie. And then threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her on the cheek before she extended her racket in the air and pointed it toward the rest of the camp. "Onward we go, Mattie! To defeat your sister in canoeing like the awesome team we are!"

"Gill, we aren't even on the same team."

"Unawesome details!"

Yes. Well...

She stared down at her own racket as she thought for a moment. Then she continued, "I don't really understand why Arthur hasn't asked Ally out yet." He was the perfect guy for her sister, after all. "I mean, I guess I don't know him all that well, but he doesn't seem as oblivious about romance as Ally is."

Gill didn't respond for a few moments, which was rather surprising, since she wasn't usually the type of person who would think about a question before she decided to answer it.

"I guess I never really thought about it before." The tone of her voice sounded more serious than usual. "It probably has something to do with all of the unawesome stuff that happened before you guys moved here."

"Unawesome stuff?" She hadn't heard about anything like that from anyone.

And she was a little surprised when Gill didn't immediately explain. Instead her arm just lowered down so it was wrapped around Mattie's waist. Which—it felt a little odd to be walking around in public like this. She kept forgetting that people _knew _that she and Gill were a couple.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you about that stuff, though. It happened like four years ago and it was really really unawesome..."

"Oh." She hurriedly backtracked. "Well, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."

"Although, you really should know..." Mattie wasn't sure if Gillian had even heard her. "I guess it couldn't hurt to tell you a little bit."

And now she stopped suddenly, jerking Mattie back slightly as she hadn't expected the sudden lack of motion. "You have to promise not to tell anyone about this, though. Especially not your unawesome sister."

Mattie wasn't entirely sure if she should agree, but...she was starting to feel curious now. "I promise."

Gill nodded once and then turned her head from side to side in an overly exaggerated motion, as if checking for eavesdroppers. Before she turned back and stated, "Artie, Franny, and Toni used to do lots of bad stuff, okay? Like _really _bad, _really _unawesome stuff." She frowned for a moment and then continued. "But then they got better, which was awesome. Leon helped a lot with that. And Artie came back to school and stopped getting in trouble all the time and everything. But then he started acting _differently_ unawesome. Like he was _always _at school and working on homework and doing stuff for the student council and he'd _never _have fun with us anymore. At least 'til you guys moved here and Ally started bugging him..."

She paused, which gave Mattie at least a moment to try to comprehend what she'd just said.

'_Really bad, really unawesome stuff'?_

_Arthur?_

"Really?"

She nodded, but then hurriedly added, "Everything's awesome now, though! I mean, Mr. Roma even let Eyebrows run as the student council president and everything. Although I'm pretty sure that Leon had something to do with that too... And Toni and Franny and me are still best awesome friends forever!" And now she let go of Mattie's waist and spun around, throwing a peace sign into her face.

In a way that was very Ally-like actually.

"Artie's probably just being silly about that, again! He does that sometimes, but he'll be better eventually. And then he and your unawesome sister can get together and get married and have a bunch of caterpillar-eyebrowed babies!"

And Mattie's jaw dropped at that, the mental images flowing in entirely unbidden. "Gill! Don't say that!"

Of course, Gill just laughed and then stuck her tongue out at her before spinning around and running in the direction of the rest of the camp. "Gotta get'cha head in the game, Mattie! Bet'cha can't catch me!"

Mattie definitely loved her girlfriend and all the insanity she brought to her life.

At least, she did most of the time.

Although, this new information about Arthur was definitely going to require some thought. A _lot_ of thought...

Especially if something from his past was what was keeping him and Ally apart... And especially if it was true that Ally's sudden makeover was an attempt to capture his attention.

After all, her sister may be a pain, but she _was _her sister and Mattie wanted her to be happy. More than anything else in the world really.

* * *

A/N: Aw, Mattie is trying to be a good sister ;) Yay for Mattie. And some random information about what happened 4 years ago. Oh hon hon.

And who noticed the High School Musical reference in there? xD Oh the randomness. I haven't seen that movie in years. But it popped into my head and I totally see Gill as the type of person who randomly gets songs stuck in her head when she hears certain words and then starts singing them (like me xD)... Yep.

And in other news...

I GOT A JOB I GOT A JOB I GOT A JOB! :D :D :D It's at McDonald's again, but whatevz. It's money! Yay!

And then lastly, I think that the review system is still being wacky... Which is annoying. Since it's been like what? A month? Sigh... =.= If you still can submit reviews, then please do so! I still love them and reviews help lead to happiness and inspiration which leads to faster updates. If you can't though, then you can send angry vibes to the site with me and maybe SOMEDAY they'll fix the damn thing.


	45. Chapter 45: Yong Soo

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 45**

Now where in the world could Aniki be hiding?

Yong Soo had been wandering around the campsite in search of Yao for atleast half an hour—possibly longer; he hadn't really bothered to keep track of how long he'd been searching—and he hadn't even caught a _glimpse_ of him anywhere. It was almost like he was purposely _hiding_ from him or something.

Which of course was ridiculous, since Aniki would never hide from him. But, still...

Yong Soo couldn't imagine where he could be, since he'd looked everywhere that he could think of. He'd even tried asking everyone he passed if they knew where Yao was, but no one had any idea... Or they were too busy or distracted to answer him.

Tina had offered to help him look, but then Mr. Roma had come up to ask her something and he'd decided to leave. He really didn't have time to wait for her to finish talking with Mr. Roma, as he needed to find Yao right _now_.

Because they were supposed to be starting the canoe race soon and Yong Soo wanted to make _sure_ that he and Aniki were in the same canoe. After all, canoe races originated in Korea, so there was no doubt that his team would win the race!

But where in the world could he be?

"Aniki!" He'd tried calling for a while, but hadn't received an answer. "Where are you, da ze~?"

"Quit being so loud, bastard!"

But he hadn't been _that _loud and..._wait a minute_...

That voice had come from somewhere nearby. And had definitely belonged to one of the Italian girls—the grumpy one with darker hair if he remembered correctly. Lovina.

Huh. Yong Soo glanced around his surroundings, a little tiny-bit surprised when he noticed that he'd wandered into the woods at some point. Apparently he'd been thinking so hard about finding Aniki that he hadn't really been paying attention to where he was walking.

Maybe Aniki was in here, though. That would explain why no one knew where he was. He should go find Lovina so he could ask her if she knew where he was. Although, he wasn't sure if she'd answer him, since she was such a grumpy person. He'd already dealt with his fair share of grumpy people today. Arthur had yelled at him for at least ten minutes earlier about something that he hadn't bothered paying attention to...

And then another voice came, mixed with an amused laugh, "Don't worry, prometida, no one's around..."

And _that _sounded promising.

It wasn't a very well-known fact, but super spying had _also _originated in Korea.

Yes, it was true. Yong Soo had even done a report on it for school last year. He hadn't gotten a very good grade on it and his parents had gone in to visit with his teacher afterwards, but that didn't matter! What _did _matter was the fact that spying was one of those talents that Yong Soo had been _born _with... Along with canoeing and gaming and lots of other things.

So right now, he started creeping towards the voices like a true Korean super spy.

"So, why did you bring me out here like this, idiot?"

Lovina's voice simultaneously managed to sound angry and curious, and the other voice—he was pretty sure that it belonged to Antonio—sounded incredibly happy. And a little teasing. "I wanted to ask you something, prometida."

Yong Soo wondered what that word meant. He assumed it was Spanish—or maybe Italian.

"Ask me what?"

Another chuckle, although this time it sounded a little nervous. "Well, I know that you don't want anyone to know, but...well, it would be all right if I tell Madre, sí? Madre is good at keeping secrets."

"Why?" And now she sounded less cross—more curious, actually. "You don't need to tell her yet..."

What in the world could they be talking about?

Yong Soo had completely forgotten about his original search for Aniki by this point, as this was much too interesting to ignore. He paused for a moment now, as he removed his phone from his pocket; it was a rather high-tech phone—one that had originated in Korea, of course—and had a variety of useful tools in it. Including a translator.

_Prometida_. At least it was a word that was easy to spell.

"But think about how happy she'll be! Mamá is going to be so excited when she finds out!"

_Prometida meant..._

Yong Soo's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the screen. It meant _that_? _Really_?

"And she can help plan the wedding! Just imagine how pretty it'll be, Lovi~!" Antonio sounded almost ecstatic right now. "And you might even be able to wear abuela's wedding dress." There was a pause for a short moment, but then he continued, a little quieter. "Mamá told me that she was saving it for when I decided to get married. Even if she didn't ever get to wear it..."

And now there was a long pause, during which Yong Soo crept closer. Although he still couldn't _see_ them...

_Prometida apparently meant fiancée..._

So, they were _engaged _now? He'd known they were dating—_everybody_ knew they were dating—but he hadn't known that they were _that _serious.

"R—really?" Lovina stammered the word out, sounding rather embarrassed. "Then, I suppose it might be okay. At least she's smarter than_ you_ are..."

And Antonio cheered at that, apparently not caring that she'd just insulted him, and then there was excited laughter.

And Lovina squawked angrily, "Hey! Chigi~! Put me down, bastard!"

"But, Lovi! Just imagine how pretty you'll look in Mamá's dress! You'll be the prettiest bride in the entire _world_!"

So they were engaged. Yong Soo wasn't sure how to respond to that. Although, he knew that engagements also had originated in Korea... So, should he go and congratulate them?

He nodded to himself at that thought. Yes, he probably should go and congratulate them. That's what you did when you found out about engagements, after all. And you gave presents, of course. So now he'd have to think of a present to give them...

Ah, but first!

He couldn't believe that he'd almost forgotten about Aniki. He still had to find him before the canoeing race started or else they might be put in different boats and that would ruin everything.

He spun around at that thought and immediately began heading back in the direction he'd come, more determined than ever to find Yao. And while he was searching for him, he'd also have to start thinking about good engagement presents that had originated in Korea.

* * *

A/N: Ohn hon hon. So someone has found out. And probably the last person any of you expected.

Short chapter after long break. I blame the heat. It saps out my creativity. Gah, heat waves, how I hate thee. Although, I have watched a lot of movies because of the heat wave, since I'm too hot and lazy to move from the circle of fans I created... I finally watched the Hetalia movie for the first time and went to see the last Harry Potter movie in theatres since I figured I might as well go see it since I'd seen all the others—even if I honestly am not a fan of the series... *is bricked*

Then I rewatched Sherlock Holmes, Resident Evil: Degeneration, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the billionth time... And then watched tons of Case Closed episodes and 4 or 5 of the movies.

...Yep, random trivia facts of the day. That probably doesn't sound like a lot, but considering the fact that I pretty much never watch movies, it feels really weird to have seen that many in a matter of days. . And they're also all very geeky movies...

Oh, and just to inform you all. I got a lobster plushie of my very own. Who is my Ned. ;D


	46. Chapter 46: Lovina

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 46**

You know what was stupid?

...Well, lots of things in the world were stupid. Potatoes were stupid for one. And French perverts. And most of the girls at her school. And, of course, little sisters who didn't understand the stupidity of potato bastards. And annoying tomato idiots...

And lots of things. The world was practically filled to the _brim_ with stupid things. It was a wonder that there were any smart people left.

Anyway, that wasn't the point.

The point was that _canoes_ were stupid. Canoes were really _really_ stupid.

You know why canoes are stupid? Because they're almost impossible to steer. And in order to move around, you have to paddle really hard and it gets super tiring after a while. Particularly if you're in a canoe with a bunch of idiots who have no clue what they're doing. And then there's the risk that said idiots will tip you over...

You know, going to the hospital _sucked_...a lot. And a hospital was up there on the list of top ten worst places to propose to your girlfriend, too. But at this exact moment, Lovi was starting to feel a little happy about the fact that she'd spent some time in the hospital. Because she now had a ready-made excuse for why there was _no fucking way _she was getting in that boat.

"But, Lovi~"

No matter how much a certain tomato bastard whined.

Said tomato bastard was currently standing right in front of her, pouting like a little kid who'd just been told that he couldn't have his dessert until _after _dinner. "Mr. Roma said that you could come and play with us if you were careful. You should come! You haven't gotten to play any of the games this entire week!"

Her nonno was such a traitor. And why was it a problem that she hadn't been able to play the stupid games? Lovina really had no desire to run around and get all sweaty—or in this case _wet_.

She'd much rather sit on the dry shore with her grandfather and the potato-grandfather (who was slightly less annoying than his potato-grandchildren, but only slightly), watching as everyone else made fools of themselves. That was a _much_ more enjoyable way to spend her afternoon.

She snorted, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing her...fiancé ...with her best glare. "And I'd probably end up falling into the lake again, bastard. And cracking my head open. _Again_."

Antonio was pouting at her. And that look wasn't at _all _endearing. Not at all.

"But, Lovi~. You don't have to worry! I'll protect you!" And his sneaky bastard of a hand had managed to find her hand and now his fingers were intertwined with hers.

But it'd be way too much work to push him away, so...

"Hello, Lovina and Antonio, da ze~!"

Lovina had another thing to add to her list of stupid things in the world. People who suddenly popped up out of _nowhere _and almost gave you heart attacks? They were also _incredibly_ stupid.

"Ah... Hola, Yong Soo..." And Antonio, of course, still managed to be his ridiculously polite, friendly self even after having the bejeezus scared out of him by the insane Korean.

"I finally found you a present, da ze~!"

...Like she said, _insane _Korean.

Antonio looked even more confused than usual, which was really saying something. Although she was pretty confused too. "Present?"

"It originated in Korea!"

And a package was suddenly shoved right into Antonio's arms before he had time to respond; he had to let go of her hands to keep from dropping the stupid thing. A package that had been wrapped in what looked like sketch paper...

"I had to borrow Kiku's paper to wrap it, da ze~!" Yong Soo just continued talking, apparently not noticing their complete confusion.

"Uh..." Antonio was staring at the gift like he wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. "Gracias, but why are you—"

"Yong Soo, we're about to start, aru!"

And he was gone before Antonio could even finish his question; running toward his teammates as if a bull was chasing him. "I'm coming, da ze~!"

Leaving the two of them standing there, staring after him...

"Ah..." And Antonio was the first to speak, of course. He paused for a moment, as if unsure what he should say right now, but then he glanced toward her and smiled. "Well, that was nice of Yong Soo."

She just frowned in response and crossed her arms over her chest. "What the _fuck_ was that for?" Seriously, she'd known that Yong Soo was playing with a few cards short of a full deck, but she hadn't realised he was _this _insane.

"Maybe he just wanted to be nice!"

A snort. "More likely that he wants something."

And Antonio looked like he was about to respond to that, but _thankfully_ she was saved from his too nice words and big, innocently-wide eyes by her nonno's sudden booming voice. Well, sort of thankfully. It was hard to decide who was more annoying sometimes, especially when...wait, who in the _world _had given her grandfather a _megaphone_?

"Everybody ready for the canoe race?" Mr. Beilschmidt looked like he was wondering the same thing, as he stood beside Nonno with a very pained expression.

Not that Nonno cared. "All right, everybody! Now for the rules! As you can see, each of our canoes hold four people. Two of you will be paddling at a time. Your task is to follow the trail of orange buoys that we've set up until you reach the white and red buoy near the centre of the lake. At that point, you will be required to _switch places_ in the canoe to give your teammates a chance to paddle! Careful not to tip over!" He grinned at the worried expressions that crossed quite a few faces. "Don't worry. These canoes are very difficult to tip over! You'd practically have to _try _to tip one of these babies over!"

Lovi bet that one of these idiots would be able to manage it.

"Each team will have two canoes—one waiting until the other has finished the course. Just like a relay race! Now, we'll be giving you guys about a half an hour to strategise and practice in the canoes! We have enough so that every pair will be able to have their own canoe! So have fun!"

And he seemed to have finished. Which apparently was the signal to unleash _chaos._

"The hero gets the first canoe!"

"No way! Awesome gets the first canoe!"

"Um, there are plenty of canoes, Gilli-ch..."

"No, that one's mine!" Ally and Gill were currently engaged in their favourite pastime. Fighting over stupid shit.

God, those two were almost as annoying as the potato bastard. And speaking of whom... _oh, he had _better_ not be getting into a canoe with her stupid little sister..._

And he totally _was_. Feli was bouncing around like a spastic little pinball (wearing a bright yellow lifejacket; at least the potato bastard had made sure that she didn't forget _that_) in her excitement. Annoying little idiot sister.

Lovina could just imagine it now. The potato bastard would paddle her out to the middle of the lake and then Feli would be _trapped_. Who _knew _what the bastard would do to her out there?

"Lovi?" And she jumped slightly at the voice coming from much-too-close to her ear. She'd almost forgotten that Antonio was still standing beside her. "Are you sure that you don't want to go canoeing with me? We could always go canoeing now, even if you don't want to race."

And she made a very stupid mistake right here, as she actually turned toward him and looked up into his so-fucking-hopeful emerald green eyes.

Oh, God. Why was he so fucking _gorgeous_? This was so not fair.

"I—" She could feel her face turning that obnoxious shade of red that always reminded the idiot of the tomatoes that he was obsessed with—rightly so, but that wasn't the point. "I—"

_Wait. _

_If she went out with Antonio in that canoe, then not only would she be all alone in a tiny space with her insanely sexy fiancé—_she had _not_ just thought that—_but she would actually be able to keep a close eye on her sister and be in the perfect position to shove the potato bastard overboard if he tried anything with her._

And Antonio was still staring at her with those evil, evil eyes.

"Fine." She threw her head to the side with a huff, ignoring the overjoyed expression that passed over his face at her words. That expression did not send butterflies flitting around her stomach. It must have been something she ate. "Just make sure that you get us one that doesn't leak. And if it capsizes, you are _dead meat_."

"I won't let it capsize, Lovi! I promise." He was beaming. And then, before she could respond, he suddenly leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. A little peck and then he'd hurried off toward the canoes that were being divvied up on the shore.

And Lovi just stood there for a moment, too surprised to move... Before a bright red flush began to devour her cheeks.

_Stupid idiot. Stupid stupid idiot fiancé bastard. Idiot._

* * *

A/N: I'm back! :D Yay! Life has sort of settled down for me, thankfully. So yeah, updates should go back to something at least close to normal. And review lots if you want? Reviews make me very very happy. :)

And we finally get to the canoeing part! Canoeing is actually one of those things that I'm sort of good at, so I can better go off of experience here. Except I haven't gotten to actually do it since high school. Sigh... I have a tendency to be decent at all of the sports that you can't just go out and _do_, you gotta go to specific places to do it and get all the equipment and stuff. Like canoeing, kayaking, archery, rollerblading.

And, I already posted this in the authoress notes to the new R&R chappy, but I haven't gotten many reviews for that so not sure how many people saw it. I recently went through and created a list of the character ages for the Pleasantville series. It can be found here:

theauthoress13 . livejournal . com / 34322 . html


	47. Chapter 47: Ludwig

**Just a Little Push**

**Chapter 47**

Ludwig had something close to a sixth sense when it came to situations like these. He blamed it on the fact that he'd grown up with Gill, as he was sure that growing up with someone like _her_ was one of those things that would mess with _anyone__'__s_ psyche.

You see, Gillian's presence during Ludwig's formative years had left him with a rather uncanny ability to sense trouble coming.

It had the _potential_ to be a useful skill, but unfortunately it really didn't help him much. Since Gillian, in response, had developed the uncanny ability to sidestep all his attempts to escape from her chaotic presence...

Ludwig really did love his sister, but sometimes he just wished that she'd go away for a year or so to give him a nice, long, restful break.

So, yes. Gillian's existence had caused Ludwig to develop trouble-sensors and right now, they were going insane. As there was really no way that the current situation could end well.

For one thing, Gillian was currently in a canoe with Arthur and Francis, kneeling in the front with her arms thrown out to the sides, posing while the two boys paddled and bickered behind her. Ludwig was pretty sure that his sister was with them since Francis knew better than to let Gill paddle a canoe herself, but still... Gillian in a canoe with _anyone_was just asking for trouble.

"Ve~! This is so fun, Ludwig!"

And, just to make the situation more stressful, he was also _alone_ in a canoe with Feliciana, who kept bouncing around and definitely wasn't keeping a sufficiently tight grip on her paddle.

The only thing that made this situation even somewhat bearable was that everyone was wearing their lifejackets...

"I've never gone canoeing before!" She was sitting in the front of their canoe, waving at the others as they passed by. Occasionally dipping her paddle into the water and attempting a few strokes before she got distracted again.

You know, it was really a good thing that he'd attended that Boy Scout camp all those times during his childhood—he'd learned how to properly handle a canoe back then. And it really wasn't that difficult, even with Feli's added weight and occasional attempts to help. Some of the others weren't moving quite so successfully.

"Where did you learn how to canoe, Ludwig?" Ludwig was slightly startled by the question, as he'd started distractedly watching his sister. Who was now leaning dangerously over the side of her canoe. He would be amazed if she managed to get through today without falling out at least once.

Feli had turned around in her seat—he was rather surprised that she'd managed to do so without jostling the boat—and was now staring at him with wide eyes that were incredibly distracting for some reason that he did not want to think about right now.

"Uh..." He had to wrack his brain for a moment, trying to remember what she'd just asked. "Well, you remember that I used to go the Boy Scout camp every summer..."

"I remember! Gill would come and play with us lots when you were at camp!"

He nodded, again glancing toward his sister, who was now engaged in a splashing contest—or something—with Arthur and Francis.

"Ve~ hey, Ludwig... What's that?"

And that was the sole warning that Ludwig received before his boat suddenly tilted to the right. Some water streaming over the sides and soaking his shoes. He automatically jerked back, attempting to keep the vessel upright, while he simultaneously reached forward and grabbed Feli's arm, tugging her towards himself.

She'd been trying to reach something in the water, and now she jerked back toward him. Managing to lose her balance in the process. Arms flailing before she fell across him, forcing the air from his lungs in a painful gasp.

"Ow..." She lifted her head slightly, rubbing at her forehead which had managed to slam right against his chin. "That hurt."

The boat was now rocking back and forth, floating slightly lower in the water. Ludwig could feel lake water squishing around in his shoes. He knew that it would take forever to dry them out all the way. But at least he'd managed to keep her from falling into the lake.

And now he was suddenly, incredibly aware of the fact that Feliciana was practically lying on top of him right now. Her hands splayed out against his chest, every point of contact between them radiating an incredible amount of heat. Her amber-coloured eyes were wide and startled, her face was _much_too close, the curls that had escaped from her ponytail were tickling his throat.

He was pretty sure that his mind was currently attempting to self-destruct. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

He was pretty sure that he'd dropped his paddle, as well...

"Ve~" She was staring at him, not moving away. Was she moving closer? Oh Gott, he was pretty sure that she was...

"You get the fuck away from my sister, potato bastard!"

"Ah, Lovi, I don't think that we should... I can't really stop—"

And, yet again, that was the only warning that Ludwig received before he found himself choking on a mouthful of lake water, his head slammed against something hard. Everything spinning.

Then his head broke the surface and he was gasping, spitting out the filthy, disgusting, probably disease-ridden water. And the first sound that met his ears, of course, was his sister's laughter.

"Luddy's canoe just flipped!"

"Stupid potato bastard!"

"Ve~!"

Ludwig shook his head as he slowly opened his eyes, and then pushed at the bangs that had fallen into his face. Feli...where was Feli?

"Ve~ Ludwig!" There she was, floating next to the overturned boat. Not looking all that upset about the fact that she'd just fallen out of their canoe. Lovina and Antonio's canoe was still upright, of course. The two of them staring at them with slightly unsure expressions. "Lovi and Antonio knocked our canoe over!"

"Wasn't my fault!" Lovina hurriedly defended herself, pointing toward Antonio. "He didn't stop!"

Antonio grinned, apparently not minding the accusation. "But you're the one who started paddling toward them, Lovinita~. You paddled very fast, though; I think you should race with us! Then we'd definitely win!"

Ludwig caught a glimpse of a blush creeping over her cheeks before she pouted and glared toward Gill, Francis, and Arthur's boat, which was paddling closer. "That's because the potato bastard pervert was trying to molest my stupid sorella."

"No he wasn't, Lovi." Feli swum over to the boat and then grabbed onto the edge, making her sister shriek as the canoe suddenly rocked at the change in weight. "You shouldn't be so mean to Ludwig, ve~ He was just trying to make sure I didn't fall in the water."

"Do you want help flipping your boat, mes amies?" Francis interrupted.

"We're the rescue boat!" Gillian added, flailing her arms and almost managing to hit Arthur in the head. "Saving Luddy from being eaten by man-eating piranhas!"

Feli immediately stopped her relaxed swimming at that, turning toward Ludwig with a rather horrified expression. "Ve~ there're piranhas in here?"

Ludwig was currently considering the best method for pulling Gillian into the water without flipping her entire canoe, since he didn't have anything against Arthur or Francis at the moment. Now, _why_ couldn't he have been an only child? It would have been much less stressful. And he was pretty sure that he could have avoided this entire moment if he was an only child.

"Don't worry, chérie, I'm quite sure that there aren't any piranhas in this lake."

Feli didn't look entirely reassured, but she nodded and then swam back toward Ludwig. "Ve~ Nonno's waving at us!" And immediately responded by bouncing up and down, fighting against the life jacket as she attempted to wave back.

Sending a fresh wave of disgusting lake water over his head.

"Kese kese kese!"

And they hadn't even started the actual race...

* * *

A/N: Poor Ludwig... Life enjoys tormenting him. And by life, we mean Gill and Lovi...

Yay! Another chapter! Okay, since I know that not everyone reads R&R, I shall just re-post what I wrote there about what's going on with all of the obnoxious hiatuses. And the fact I am suuuuuuuuuuuper behind on the formspring account. :( I'm sorry. I will get to that hopefully after Wednesday... (Aka: after a whole bunch of papers and crap will finally be done).

Basically, I've just been sick (easiest way to explain it) for the past three months or so and haven't had any energy to write, since any energy I've had has been going toward attempting to keep myself from flunking out of school. So yeah... But I'm finally starting to feel better! Finally got all my meds figured out, which has been the worst part of this whole mess.

Updates should be coming more frequently now. Still not super fast, because I'm still not 100% and school's being obnoxious, but I'm hoping for at least an update a week. And next semester should be better, because I'm going to be studying in Buffalo.

So yeah, that's what's been going on in my life.

Thanks so much to everyone who's still reading even with these annoying hiatuses. I love you all! It makes me feel so much better to read all of your nice comments and messages. :)


	48. Chapter 48: Gillian

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 48**

Gill could already tell that this was going to be the most awesome canoeing race _ever_. After all, her brother was already _soaked_ and they hadn't even technically started yet. How could things get any more awesome?

She laughed and then jumped out of the canoe... They hadn't _quite _reached land, but a little water never hurt anything! "Let's go Awesome Team of Awesomeness! We're gonna _crush _Ally's Unawesome Team to _dust_!"

And dude, her teammates really needed to gain some enthusiasm. None of them seemed nearly excited enough about their impending victory. Even Francis just sighed and responded with a "Gill, chérie, you could've waited a few more feet..."

"Not awesome!" She spun around, stomping a foot so a wave of water slapped against the side of Arthur and Francis's boat. "We're going to _crush _Ally's team to dust!"

"Oui. But now you're all wet..."

Seriously, how could no one understand the importance of this race? They _had_ to crush Ally's team if she wanted to...

...Wanted to...

Hmm, now that Gill thought about it, she couldn't quite remember exactly why it was so important to crush Ally's team. She remembered it had something to do with Mattie, but the exact reason... She couldn't quite remember.

Oh well, crushing Ally's team for the sake of crushing was a pretty good reason.

Anyway, moving right along. So Gill waded to shore and waited as Francis and Arthur paddled forward. Then she pointed toward them with an epic and awesome point, "You two are going to be on the first team with Hera and Natalya."

Who were totally not paying attention to anything that was going on. Heracles was sleeping—dude, he was sleeping while sitting _upright_ on a log. Now that was talent right there—and Natalya was off creeping on her brother. "Which means that Ludwig, Feli, Eli, and I are gonna be the other team waiting for you guys. So you better get way in front so we win!"

"We will, don't worry, Gill." Francis chuckled as he stepped out of the canoe, and then wrinkled his nose when his boots sunk slightly into the mud. "It looks like Arthur and I will be competing against your _amour_ and Antoine..."

Gill turned at that, to see Mattie and Antonio climbing into one of the other canoes.

...Sadiq was already sitting in the front with a paddle in hand, glaring over at Heracles, who'd finally woken up and was glaring back as he walked toward her team's canoe. She'd definitely make sure that those two were competing against each other. That was the best way to bring out Heracles' rarely-seen competitive side.

Let's see... And now Ivan was climbing into the back of Ally's team's canoe, making it sink down slightly.

Not _bad_ planning... Not that Gill really wanted to admit that her enemy could actually strategize decently. You wanted to have the strongest paddlers in the back usually. Tonio was pretty strong, so it looked like he'd be providing the power while Mattie did most of the steering.

"Heracles!" she now called, thankfully managing to capture his attention before he climbed into the canoe. "You get in the back now, Natalya up in the front! Then Francis and Arthur!"

They were totally going to win with her _awesome_ planning skills! Their only real weak link was Feli, but Ludwig _should _be able to handle that with his big brawny muscleyness. Then she and Eli would do fine; they'd gone canoeing together all the time when they were kids.

She knew that Lizzie was the one who was _supposed_ to be on their team, but Gill really had no clue where she'd gone and she honestly couldn't care less. She and Lizzie had never gotten along...

...Well, actually that wasn't quite true. They'd gotten along when they were really little. But then Liz had turned all girly and annoying.

Not that that was at all important. What _was _important was the race that was about to commence. Gillian watched from the shore as everyone hopped into their canoe and pushed a little ways from shore. And Mr. Roma grabbed his megaphone.

Dude, Awesome totally needed one of those.

And shouted out an "Everybody ready?" to the three canoes.

Okay, Awesome would make it a little easier. Here's how everybody was sitting from front to back...

The team of Awesome's first canoe consisted of Natalya, Francis, Arthur, and Heracles.

The team of Unawesome's first canoe consisted of Sadiq, Mattie, Antonio, and Ivan. And, just to make things clear, Mattie and Antonio _were _still awesome. They just happened to be on the unawesome _team_ at the moment.

And the last canoe held Tina, Feliks, Toris, and Berwald.

You know, Gill kept forgetting that there even _was _another team. Since she wasn't working to explicitly _crush _them...

Anyway, not important. So the three canoes were lined up; the paddlers all ready to paddle away like their lives depended on it. Heracles and Sadiq were glaring at each other like they really _really_ wanted to play bumper boats right now.

Which would be quite awesome. They should totally play bumper boats later.

"All righty then." And Mr. Roma was still yelling through his megaphone. "Everybody ready? Get set, guys! On your marks! And go!"

And they were off!

Gill was on her feet and shouting at her teammates before they'd even dipped their paddles in the water for the first stroke. Because everyone knew that a team competed much better if you yelled at them! "Get going! You can do it! Crush that unawesome team into dust!"

She received a glare from Lovina, who happened to be sitting on the shore next to her grandfather. But Gill just ignored it. Lovi liked to glare at her _all the time_...

And Ally was shouting too. Not nearly as awesomely. "You can do it, commie! Beat the evil albino!"

"I'm not even out there!"

"So you _admit that _you're an evil albino!"

You know, Gill often wondered how her cute, very awesome Mattie had managed to have such an unawesome sister.

"Stop yelling, you two!" And thinking of Mattie... That voice had definitely belonged to her rather annoyed-sounding girlfriend, who had turned around in the boat and now sent both of them an absolutely _withering _glare.

Dude, even Lovi could take lessons from an irritated Mattie...

Gill hurriedly sat down at that tone, pouting as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the American idiot. Who had also sat down... Because no one dared ignore Mattie when she raised her voice. It was completely impossible.

Besides, Gill wanted Mattie to stay in a good mood because she had a super secret, super awesome plan for tonight. A plan for a special _victory _surprise. She just had to make sure that Ally wasn't around to ruin everything again...

Although, she was starting to worry a little bit. Because the three teams were currently neck and neck...

"Come on Hera! You can beat him!"

She wasn't about to yell at Natalya, even if she was being rather unhelpful with her paddling... Unless...

"Hey, Natty!" Heh, Natty rhymed with Mattie. "I've got some pics of Ivan for you if you win for us!"

And that had definitely been the right thing to say. Gill had never realised that Natalya could move that fast. Although it was kind of scary to hear the "Married, married, married" drifting inland from the rapidly moving canoe.

Thank God for her blackmail binders.

Although she'd better hide from Ivan for the rest of their trip.

* * *

A/N: Yay for canoe races! Although this chapter rather sucked. Hopefully the next shall be better.

So yeah, not too much to say. I'm enjoying studying in Buffalo. I wrote most of this chapter in a coffee shop yesterday. I felt like a _real _authoress. It was awesome.


	49. Chapter 49: Antonio

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 49**

Lovinita looked so _cute _sitting on the shore right between her abuelo and Gill's abuelo. Sitting there watching him, but pretending that she hadn't been watching him every time Antonio caught her eyes. Face flushing a bright, tomato red as she hurriedly turned away.

The boy grinned as he twisted his head around Ivan to get a better look. Noting distractedly that Ivan was currently paddling away with a rather funny expression on his face. Aww, Lovi was so cute. He waved and then grinned when she immediately blushed even brighter and turned away so quickly that she may have gotten whiplash.

His fiancée. His prometida. He knew that Mamá would be so excited when they told her that they were engaged. Engaged to be _married_. He wondered when the wedding would be. Hopefully soon. Maybe in the summer? They could get married outside, near the tomato fields. Because wouldn't that be pretty?

His pretty Lovinita. His beautiful, beautiful Lovinita.

But he had to concentrate on the race right now. If he didn't, then Ally would be disappointed. And Antonio hated to disappoint people. Even if this was a rather weird situation, since both of his best friends were on the opposite team.

"So, um, this is probably none of my business and you don't need to answer if you don't want to..."

Antonio blinked, slightly surprised by the remark. Which he quickly realised had come from Mattie, who was sitting right in front of him on the floor in the canoe. "What is?"

And she didn't immediately respond, which was pretty funny, since she'd just asked him. For a minute, she just sat there... And then turned her head, trying to keep the rest of her body as still as possible so the canoe wouldn't rock. They were close to the middle of the lake, slightly behind Gill's team. Pretty soon they'd have to switch places and he and Mattie would get to take over.

She sighed and glanced toward the other canoe, which was zipping along. Apparently Heracles and Natalya were good at canoeing together. "I just... Gill mentioned something and it's been bothering me and I was wondering if you could tell me more... But if you don't want to, then it's fine."

Huh? Antonio couldn't think of anything that Gill would tell Mattie that would make her ask that.

"What is it?"

She hesitated again, and then finished her question all in one breath. "What exactly was it that Arthur did in the past that was so _bad_?"

And the entire world spun out of control for a moment. Literally and figuratively, actually. Literally in that their canoe suddenly spun to the right so suddenly that they almost tipped right over. It was only Antonio and Mattie's instinctual jerk to the side that kept them upright.

Figuratively in that Antonio had _not _expected that question. Especially right _now_.

_He didn't want to think about them when he was so happy. When he and Lovi were happy and going to be married and..._

"Dude, you don't _know_!" And that was Sadiq, who had been the one to almost cause their capsize, as he'd spun around at the question. Stopped paddling in the process, causing Ivan's powerful thrust to spin their canoe almost out-of-control. Antonio could see Ally jumping up and down on the shore, waving her arms around as she screamed something unintelligible.

Antonio sent him a glare that immediately made him return to his _task_.

"Gill told you about that?"

Mattie looked almost guilty now. "W—well, yeah. I mean, I asked her why Arthur wasn't asking Ally out and she said it was because of something that happened in the past and..."

Antonio wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to tell her about what had happened back then—except practically everyone else knew _already_. And he _really _didn't want to think about everything that _he'd_ done too.

He'd done lots and lots of stupid things. Lovinita had been sweet enough to forgive him for everything... _Eventually_... But still...

"I just... He's completely stopped doing that stuff, right? Whatever it was."

"Sí." And so had _he_. He'd stopped drinking and going with all of those other girls—none of whom had been even close to as pretty as Lovi.

"Hey, you two!" Sadiq again. "Time to switch!"

And they wouldn't be able to talk anymore, which in Antonio's eyes was definitely a good thing. Although now he had to paddle as best he could or Ally would kill him when he got back to the beach. He hurriedly knelt down, waiting as Ivan climbed over him...with surprising agility considering how big he was.

"We were talking about middle school, da?" And Antonio had _really _hoped that Ivan hadn't heard them. He climbed back, grabbing onto the ownerless paddle as he did so.

"Sí." Well, at least Ivan hadn't actually _gone_ to their middle school during those years. Since his parents had decided to send him and his sisters to some private school for a couple years. Then had decided to put them back in public school for undisclosed reasons that were rumoured to involve a water pipe.

"You made Lovishka very sad back then." He remarked _very _calmly, as he settled himself in the bottom of the canoe. "She cried a lot, da? And came over for pelmeni sometimes."

Antonio frowned, glancing back toward the shore for a moment. Where Lovi was still sitting between the grandparents, talking to her abuelo about something...

Yes, he'd hurt her. He knew he'd hurt her. But he was never going to _ever_ make Lovi sad like that again! He was going to be the best husband in the world and show her all the love he could and always make her feel special. Because she _was _special. Special and beautiful and absolutely wonderful.

Al—although... He suddenly had a rather worrying thought. One that he _probably _should've had quite a while ago, but he hadn't since he'd been so excited about asking Lovi to marry him and imagining how pretty the wedding would be and everything...

_He'd never actually told Mr. Roma that he was going to ask Lovi to marry him._

"Antonio!" The scream came all the way from the shore. Ally was still jumping up and down. "Paddle!"

...Since it'd sort of been a spur of the moment thing and everything... Asking her in the hospital like that.

"Antonio, you okay?"

...Oh, this could be bad. This could be _very _bad. Since he was pretty sure that Mr. Roma wasn't quite as forgiving about bad things done in the past as Lovi was. And he probably wouldn't be happy if he learned that Antonio had already asked her without asking for permission first.

_Oops._

* * *

A/N: Alo everyone. Here's a new chapter...

...Not much to say. Except Antonio's pretty screwed right now.

And this has been a really really shitty week, so hopefully that doesn't show itself in my writing. I also started a new story that you guys should read if you want to. A prequel to the superhero one that I wrote a while ago, except a little less humourous and more thematically serious...


	50. Chapter 50: Feliciana

**Just a Little Push**

**Chapter 50**

You know, canoeing was _a lot _harder than Feliciana had expected. It hadn't been nearly this bad when it was just her and Ludwig, but now that she was in a canoe with Ludwig, Gill, and Eli… Well, it was a _lot_ harder to push the paddle through the water and keep the canoe going straight.

She was starting to think that she didn't like canoeing very much. Especially since the canoe was really shaky because Gill kept bouncing up and down and yelling, "Faster! Faster!"

Plus she was still wet from when she'd fallen into the water earlier and it was rather cold out here.

She was starting to feel a little jealous of Lovi, since her sister was currently sitting on the shore with Nonno and Antonio, drinking some hot beverage that Feli bet was hot cocoa.

She wanted hot cocoa…

"Dude," Eli suddenly remarked from where he was sitting in front of Ludwig. He was lounging back in the canoe with one hand hanging off the side and gliding through the water, waiting for when he got to switch with Ludwig and canoe back to shore. "You might want to calm down, Gill, or we're going to flip over. And then Ally's team'll definitely win."

Gill immediately stopped bouncing around at that. Which made it _much _easier for Feli to paddle. Although she was starting to get _really really _tired. And they were only halfway toward the middle of the lake.

Feli really wished Ludwig wasn't all the way at the back of the canoe.

"They're going to beat us, Luddy! We gotta catch up to them!"

Ludwig sounded frustrated when he responded, "I'm going as fast as I can, Gillian…"

"Haha!" Feliciana turned her head slightly to the side at the laughter, pushing her paddle through the water with as much strength as she could spare. Which wasn't much. Ally's canoe was gliding along beside theirs—almost an entire boat-length ahead. And Ally was grinning at Gill, who glared back. "The heroes _always _win!"

Feli _really _didn't like this. She'd rather be back in the arts and crafts' cabin working on a painting or something like that. This was too hard. She wanted to just give up, even if Gill would be mad at her. Her arms hurt and she was tired and…

"Feli!"

And she was startled by the sudden, incredibly loud shout coming from behind her. She immediately, almost instinctively turned her head… And was rather shocked to see her sister standing in the water, dirty lake water lapping around her knees. Wetting the bottom of her shorts. And she was holding Nonno's megaphone.

"Feli! Stupid sorella, you better not be giving up!"

Feli just stared back at her sister, too shocked—Lovi was actually letting her clothes get _dirty_—to notice that she'd stopped paddling. And that the canoe was starting to head toward Ally's boat.

At least, she didn't notice until Gill shouted "Bumper boats!"

"Watch out, aru!"

And that was when their canoe hit the other. Not hard enough to topple either—thank goodness. But hard enough that her grip on the paddle loosened…

And it slipped out of her hands before she could do anything to stop it.

"Feli!"

"Shit!"

"Ve~!" And all she could do was watch as the paddle floated away, managing to escape from Ludwig's attempts to fish it back with his own paddle.

Oh no… And Feli could already feel the tears beginning to spring to her eyes. She'd just ruined the race! And now Gill was going to be mad at her and…

"Team Hero wins again!"

Ally's teammates had easily recovered from the bump and they were now already three-quarters of the way to the middle of the lake. While their team had stopped and now Ludwig was leaning over with his own paddle, reaching toward the floating piece of wood.

"Get it, Luddy!"

Ludwig made an annoyed sound, but reached even farther—the boat tilting slightly—and then he's managed to catch it and is tugging the paddle toward their canoe again.

But Ally's team is so far ahead now. And it's all Feli's fault and now she feels horrible…

"Go, Feli!"

And she almost drops the paddle again when it's shoved rather unceremoniously into her arms. For a few seconds she just stares at the object and then she glances up at Gillian. "Ve~?" Is Gill not mad at her?

"The race isn't over yet!" Gill looks like she wants to pose, but doesn't dare in the rather wobbly canoe. "We're gonna crush their unawesome team into dust!"

Feli isn't sure about _that_, but at the moment she's just happy that Gill doesn't seem to be angry with her. So she dips her paddle into the water again and begins to paddle as fast as she can.

Not that it honestly does much to help. By the time they reach the middle of the lake, their rivals have already switched places in their canoe and are ready to start paddling back toward the shore. Ally sticks her tongue out from where she's now sitting in the middle of the canoe, right in front of Kiku.

Gill responds in kind before she rises onto her knees. "Okay, Feli. Kneel down and then scoot back. Eli and I are gonna show you how you're _supposed _to crush an unawesome team into dust."

"Ready when you are."

Feli hurriedly obeys the other girl and barely has time to sit up before the canoe is twisting around to face the shore.

And then they're _going_…

Gill and Eli are _really _good at this… Much better than her and Ludwig. They're going muchfaster and Gillian's laughing as she paddles. "Faster, Eli! Faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, you psycho."

Gill laughs even harder at that. "We're gonna catch up to them!"

And they might, because…they've stopped for some reason. Feli can see Ally waving her arms around and then…

The canoe suddenly starts to tip. In one direction and then the other…

And then it flips right over.

And Gill almost manages to do the same to their canoe when she throws her arms in the air. "Team Awesome for the win!"

Feli isn't quite sure if she entirely agrees with Gill. All she really cares about is reaching dry land as quickly as possible. And maybe begging some hot cocoa off her sister.

* * *

A/N: Close call. Team Hero was soooo close. ;) But then something mysterious happened and caused them to choke at the finish line. What? You'll have to read on to find out, yes. ;D

What we have learned through this canoeing adventure? Feli really wasn't made for boating. Poor Feli.

In other news, this chapter will mark my 1000th review ! :D WOOOOOOOT~~ I can't believe that I've made it this far. It's all because of you and your wonderful support. Love you alllllllllllllllllll~


	51. Chapter 51: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 51**

They'd been so close! Ally could hardly believe it. The hero's victory had practically been assured and Gillian's completely non-heroic team had been left in the dust!

And then _Yong Soo_ had suddenly decided that in a canoe, in the middle of a race,was the perfect time to attack his 'aniki'. He'd shouted something and then jumped on Yao and the canoe had started rocking back and forth as the two grappled. Eventually it was too much and _fwoosh_; they'd flipped over and everyone had fallen right into the water.

By the time Ally had pulled herself to a standing position in the waist-deep water, Gillian's team had already flown by them and were crossing the finish line, safe and sound and not at all wet. (Besides Ludwig and Feli.)

"Yong Soo!" she spun around, but the…the…she couldn't think of words that a hero would use…the _canoe-tipper-over_ wasn't there. No, he'd already started walking in the direction of the others, following Yao, who looked really ticked off. The only teammate who was still standing out here was Kiku.

"We were so close! How did that _happen_?"

Kiku was trying to wring out his shirt, although she didn't see why since they still had to wade their way back to the finish line. "I suppose that is what they mean by 'don't count your chickens before they hatch'?"

"Ally! Kiku!" Mr. Roma was shouting at them through his megaphone. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah!" She picked up her feet and began trudging through the water toward the others. Dude, this _sucked_! She was the _hero_; she was competing with Gill in order to keep her sister safe from the evil albino. But she'd _lost_. The hero wasn't supposed to _lose_.

And to make everything worse, the mud kept sucking at her shoes and it was really hard to walk… Although at least she wasn't wearing the stupid outfit that Feliks had given her this morning. Trying to canoe race in a dress would've been a million times worse. And Feliks would've been upset.

One of the main reasons she didn't like wearing dresses. Too impractical. Could you imagine trying to canoe race in a dress? And what if you saw a building on fire and had to go rescue a whole bunch of orphans? You think you could do that in a _dress_?

Anyway, that wasn't what was important. What was important was that they'd _lost_.

She tread her way to the shore where the evil albino was doing something that looked like a victory dance. What should be _her _victory dance.

"You okay, Ally?" At least her sister hadn't abandoned her. She was standing there with a towel that she immediately handed over. "You didn't hit your head on the canoe or anything?"

Oh yeah, Ally'd kind of forgotten all about the canoe. She glanced over her shoulder at where the boat was floating upside down in the water. Hopefully Mr. Roma or Mr. Beilschmidt had a plan to get it out. "No, I'm fine."

"Git," and there was Arthur, holding a mug of hot cocoa with little marshmallows floating on top. He stretched his arms out and pushed it into her hands with his usual grouchy frown. "You could've hurt yourself out there, git."

She ignored the remark—it was just flipping over in a canoe, of course she hadn't gotten hurt—took the cocoa, and then sipped at the drink. Mm, it was the perfect temperature. Cool enough that it didn't scald her tongue, but it was hot enough to almost immediately warm up her insides. "Thanks, Artie!"

And as their eyes met over the mug, she suddenly remembered Francis's words from that 'dress-up' session… 'You are madly in love' he'd said, and then 'it is quite obvious that he has similar feelings'.

Okay, Francis _had_ to be nuts, right? If Arthur liked her, then shouldn't she know it by now? They spent most of their time together, after all. And she'd _totally _know if she liked Artie… That wasn't something that you'd be able to ignore, right?

But, the idea was now festering inside her mind and as she stared at him, she noticed that Arthur's cheeks seemed to gain a slight pink colour. Like he was embarrassed. And then he quickly turned away and headed back toward where the others had gathered to drink hot chocolate.

But that—that was just because it was cool outside. Of course, Arthur couldn't be blushing because of _her_.

Ally suddenly realized that her sister was standing right beside her, _staring_ at her. With this look as if she _knew _something.

She chuckled in a totally normal way, because there was _nothing_ weird going on. Francis was crazy and she just needed to focus on beating the evil albino. "So," she began. "Looks like we're gonna have to beat the evil albino at _paintball_ now. But that's no problem 'cause we're the heroic team after all! This was just a little set-back… We have to give them a fighting chance, after all"

Mattie rolled her eyes. "Sure." But the way she said it was weird, like she thought Ally wasn't telling her something. And she knew that if she just waited long enough, Ally would burst out and tell her. But she was completely _wrong_, because Ally didn't have anything to say. Francis was just wrong about her and Artie.

"We're gonna have to be super cunning," she continued. "And not let anything distract us!"

"Ally, you do realize that I know when something's up with you. We're _twins_."

Ally felt her stomach flip-flop again. But there _wasn't _anything up with her. Absolutely nothing at all. She _didn't_ like Arthur. At least, not as more than a best friend. Besides, even if she _did _like him romantically, he definitely didn't like her back. If he liked her back, then he would've told her by now. Right? Right.

"All right, that's enough." And suddenly Mattie grabbed her hand and started pulling her away from the rest of the group. "You need to get washed off before you start smelling like the lake and then _we _need to talk."

"B—but the hero needs to plan our strategy for tomorrow!"

And Mattie sent her a _look_ that let Ally know that there would be no argument. She was going to take a shower and then they were going to_ talk_. She sighed, deferring to her sister, and then glanced back toward where Arthur and the others were gathering around and drinking hot cocoa. Fraternizing with the enemy. Kiku had already disappeared, probably to take a shower himself. So had Ludwig, Feli, Yong Soo, Yao, and Heracles, who hadn't even fallen into the water.

And she was about to be tortured by her sister. Not cool, not cool at all.

* * *

A/N: I'm on a writing ROOOOOOOOOOOLL. (Because I'm procrastinating on working on my senior thesis because I'm a horrible student.)

Let's see… For those who don't know because you don't follow R&R (which is now complete) or my tumblr. The reason I've been gone so much these past few months/years/whatever is because I've been dealing with bipolar disorder. Which was only diagnosed last month after I went to the hospital. So I'm finally on medication that actually makes me functional after like 2 years of not knowing what the hell was wrong with me. Yay! Which means I can write! Double yay!

This chapter's pretty short since I'm just getting back into this story… I'm actually hoping to finish this up in ten chapters or less. Then I can start a new story in this series that takes place after this one. Goals!

Otherwise… The link to my tumblr is on my profile page (which I'll update at some point) and the characters' formspring is all up to date. So feel free to send any questions to them that you wish!


	52. Chapter 52: Mattea

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 52**

Yeah, Mattie definitely hadn't missed the _look _that had just passed between her sister and Arthur. The 'we're both madly in love with each other _and _we both know it, but we're too emotionally-retarded to know what to do about it' look.

Her first thought had been '_finally_'. Her second thought had gone along the lines of, 'if Ally thinks that I'm going to just _ignore_ that, she sure has another thing coming'. Because if Ally had finally realized that she liked Arthur as way more than a friend, then Mattie was going to make sure that she did something about it.

They were twins, after all. And Mattie wasn't letting her sister screw this up now that she'd _finally _caught a clue. _Finally_. It'd taken them so long that she wouldn't have been at all surprised if the heavens had suddenly decided to open and shower them with a choir of angels singing "Hallelujah!"

"Mattie, come on!" Ally was whining, though. Following, but still whining. "I wanted more hot cocoa!"

To which Mattie responded by turning and sending her sister an unamused look. "No, because you and I need to talk alone and you smell like a swamp."

Ally pouted, but didn't say another word.

Which gave Mattie the silence needed to think about what Gill and the others had told her. Arthur's past… It actually wasn't all that hard to believe, once you got over the initial shock. He never really talked about what had happened in earlier years and she'd sometimes get this feeling like Arthur was desperately _trying_ to create this perfect student image. Which only really cracked when Francis or Gill or someone like that worked themselves under his skin.

The question was… What should she do with this information?

It wouldn't be at all fair if she told Ally herself. For one thing, she didn't really know what had happened and it was obviously something that Arthur wanted to keep private. But she _did_ think that Ally needed to know before they got involved in…whatever they might end up getting involved in.

Arthur should be the one to tell her, but how was _she_ supposed to get Arthur to talk to Ally when Gill said that he didn't even think he was _worthy _to date her sister because of whatever it was that he'd done?

The troubles of a sister, trying to look out for her twin…

They reached the shower house after a few minutes of silent walking. Ally immediately walked past her—still silent, which meant she was probably sulking—while Mattie continued toward their cabin to get her sister's toiletries, fresh clothing, and a towel.

What if she talked to Arthur about it? But then again, she wasn't really all that close to him and she had no real idea how he'd respond… She could maybe _hint _to her sister that Arthur had something to tell her? But that wasn't fair to him either…

Why in the world did this have to be so complicated? She couldn't imagine how Francis could consider this matchmaking thing to be at all fun.

Although, there was an option. Out of everyone here, Francis seemed the most likely to have an idea of what to do in this situation… Maybe he could talk to Arthur for her. He probably knew what had happened back then.

She'd reached their cabin in this time and now pushed the door open. She'd just grab Ally's stuff and then they could talk about her sister's insanely obvious crush on Arthur.

At least, that was the initial plan. Which did not take into account the fact that everyone in this entire campground was insane.

A guy was sitting inside their cabin, sitting on one of the beds and playing with a yo-yo. It took her a long minute to recognize him, although she eventually did… "Eli?"

"Hi!" he immediately jumped up and hurried toward her, clasping her hands between his in a very excited sort of way. "I was hoping you'd show up soon. Gill's already waiting, but we might lose her if she gets bored and wanders off."

"Wha—?"

He was Gill's cousin or something, right? The one who seemed disturbingly fascinated by their love life. He grinned and then turned and picked a camera up from where he'd left it on Feli's bed. "I talked to Gill and she said that if you said it was okay, I could take your pictures."

Mattie stared at him in complete confusion. _Pictures_?

"Just cute ones. No nudes or anything—unless you wanted nudes, of course." He turned the camera on and then pushed it into her hands. "See, those are some others that I've taken."

There was a picture of two girls holding hands and walking down a path on the little digital screen. The next was of those same two girls, now kissing.

"Uh, I guess…" If Gill had already agreed, then she couldn't see the harm. "I just have to take a towel to my sister."

"We can't wait, though. Gill will definitely run off if we take any longer and I want to get the pictures taken while we still have good light."

"It'll only take a minute, though…" She glanced toward Ally's bed. Actually, it might take longer than a minute since her sister's stuff was thrown everywhere and she had no idea where she'd put anything.

Eli tugged at her hand. "Come on, please? I can't let Lizzie beat me and she got a stupid yaoi picture of Francis and that cop that was worth tons of points…"

Mattie had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded like something she didn't particularly _want _to understand. She glanced back toward Ally's mound of stuff and then sighed. "Okay, let me just text somebody and ask them to bring her stuff to the shower room." Ally always took super-long showers so it wasn't like she had to have her towel _immediately_.

The question was who to text, since she didn't have everybody's numbers.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped through her contacts quickly. Eli was shifting impatiently between his feet…

She could text Francis and ask _him_ if he could send one of the girls up here to get Ally's clothing. That'd probably be the best thing to do. She hurriedly typed out the text and pressed send, then slipped the phone back into her pocket. "All right, let's go then…" Hopefully this whole 'picture' thing didn't turn out too weird…

* * *

A/N: Short, setting-things-up chapter.

…I have nothing interesting to say. Except that I went to an anime convention last week that was awesome and a Celtic Woman concert last night that was also awesome. Yay awesome things!

Oh, and for anyone who doesn't know. I have a new ask blog on tumblr since formspring as an ask site is going down. It's at: ask-pleasantville . tumblr . com


	53. Chapter 53: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 53**

Arthur was pretty sure—almost a hundred percent certain, actually—that this was an incredibly stupid thing to do. But what else _could_ he do?

Francis had come up to him, that's how this whole mess had begun. They'd been standing on the bank of the lake; most of the others had either grouped together for conversation or had started wandering to different areas of the campground.

He'd been considering what he'd do now—perhaps go back to the cabin and make himself some tea?—when Francis walked up to him with his cell flipped open and an evil grin on his face.

"I just got a text from Mattea," he'd begun as he walked up to Arthur. "Apparently she's been called away and needs someone to go and bring Allison a towel and her clothing while she's in the shower."

And there was only _one _reason why Francis would tell him about this. Arthur had tried to deflect what he knew was coming, though. "So? Ask one of the girls to do i.?"

"But I can't, cher," He'd made a motion toward their surroundings. "The rest of the girls have left."

Which was true. Arthur immediately wondered whether Francis had received the text a while ago and had _waited _until all the other girls were gone to bring it up. It wouldn't surprise him at all.

"Then find one of them…"

"But I don't know where they've gone and by the time I find one of them, I'm certain that Allison will be done with her shower. And imagine her standing there, cold, dripping wet, completely nude…"

"Shut up!"

Francis had thankfully stopped talking at that outburst, but he'd sent Arthur a _look _that made him feel uncomfortably nervous. Because he just knew that Francis was going to try something because he _refused _to understand that he and Al _couldn't _be together.

He wasn't good enough for her.

"I suppose that _I _could go get her clothes for her. It's not like the shower rooms are locked against all men or anything like that."

"What?!" And Francis had immediately turned and started practically speed-walking toward the girls' shower room. Arthur had been forced to sprint to catch up with him. "What are you talking about? You can't go into where Al's _showering._"

"Why not?" He flashed Arthur an evil smirk. "Allison is very attractive after all. Just imagine…"

Arthur had immediately jumped in front of him. "No. I know what you're trying to do, frog, and it isn't going to work."

"And what am I trying to do?"

"You're trying to trick _me _into doing it." He'd glared at the frog, feeling his pulse going insane. His mind was caught on that mental image of Al, in the shower… And he wanted to slam his head against something to get it out. "You've been a bloody bastard this entire trip; that thing with the dress…"

"Which you completely failed to appreciate! I set it all up, delivered her into your hands, and you can't even tell her how pretty she looked!"

Arthur flushed. He'd wanted to tell her, but the words had just refused to come out… "Because you were trying to trick me."

And Francis actually looked _furious_—his lips twisted up into a tense smile, eyes sparking angrily—which was rather shocking, since it took a lot to make Francis mad. "Fine. Here's the truth then. I think you're being a coward about this, _mon ami_. You're refusing to even acknowledge what you have with Allison because you're scared to confront what we did in the past."He snorted. "What about Antoine? He had to tell Lovina about what he did; he came to me absolutely _terrified _before telling her, but he still went through with it."

"That's different. She already knew…"

And Francis suddenly got right up in his face, too quickly for Arthur to respond. All he could do was blink at him in surprise as he hissed out, "_Tu es une petite merde, cher_. It's the exact same thing. You're just _scared_. Now…" He pushed him away and took a step back. "Go and get her whatever she needs and then _talk _to her before you make all of us want to kill you."

And then he'd turned and stomped off in the opposite direction while Arthur just stood there, completely shocked.

Which had all led up to this moment; he was standing outside the room to the girls' showers with a pile of Ally's clothes—sans lingerie because he really hadn't wanted to dig around in her clothes for _that —_and a fresh towel.

And he was trying to work up the nerve to open the door.

It wasn't like she'd be out of the shower yet; he'd just walk in, set the clothes and towel on the floor outside wherever she was, and walk out. He wouldn't even have to say a word to her. She wouldn't even know who it was who'd left the clothes.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open a crack, checking inside. He could see that only one of the showers was currently on, which meant none of the _other _girls was going to catch him.

No problem. He stepped inside and quickly walked toward the shower that Al was currently inhabiting. She was singing—not particularly well, but he'd already known that that wasn't really a talent she possessed.

"Is that you, Mattie?"

And shit.

Arthur froze where he was standing right outside her shower, hurriedly praying to whoever would listen that she _not _open the curtain.

"Took you long enough! I was starting to get all pruney in here!" He heard the shower shut off and then the sound of the first curtain being pushed open. Which meant there was only one thin shower curtain in between him and Ally…

And suddenly a bare arm popped out right beside him. "Here, gimme!"

It took his brain a couple moments to stop panicking, long enough for her to get impatient and start waving her hand around. "Towel?"

He hurriedly pressed the towel into her hand, snatching his own hand away as quickly as possible. It disappeared behind the curtain like a magic trick.

"Was it Arthur that you wanted to talk about?"

And _that _was unexpected. He'd been just about ready to put the piles of clothes down on the floor, but instead he stopped and stared at the curtain in disbelief.

"'Cause whatever Francis told you I'm pretty sure was a lie."

This was incredibly frustrating, as Arthur now desperately wanted to ask what Francis had told her. He hadn't mentioned anything about their past, had he? No, Francis may be a twat, but he wouldn't do something like that.

"I mean, he said that I'm in love with Artie and that _he's _in love with me and that's just _silly_. We're BFF's! We've always been BFF's!"

And Arthur could feel something in his chest twisting around and around. But—but why? This was what he'd wanted to hear. Ally _wasn't _in love with him. Now he could completely give up on his silly schoolgirl crush and be her _friend_. Just a friend.

"Mattie?" And unfortunately, he'd stopped paying attention to what she was saying. And had no time to respond as she pushed the curtain aside and was standing there with just a towel wrapped around her.

The two of them just stared at each other in shock and then she hurriedly jumped back and grabbed the curtain, bringing it up to better cover herself. "Artie?! What are you—"

"Sorry!" he hurriedly thrust the clothes toward her and then took a few quick steps backward. And now she was going to think she was a total pervert like Francis. "Francis, the git, told me to drop off your clothes! I'm sorry!"

And there wasn't anything else he could do. Except turn and flee.

* * *

A/N: Aww, poor Artie. :(

Two chapters in one day! What does this mean? Means I'm doing terribly at writing my paper and I feel sick… Ick for me, but good for you.

And Franny lost his temper. Impressive, Arthur, that doesn't happen often.


	54. Chapter 54: Antonio

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 54**

"Lovi, can I talk to you about something just for a minute, please?"

Maybe now wasn't the best time to ask his question, since Lovi was currently sitting next to her sister on a bench outside the dining hall, waiting for dinner to begin. They'd been talking about something and now she lifted her head to send him a half-annoyed, half-puzzled look. "Why?"

"It's very important, querida."

Technically it didn't need to be talked about now, but he'd been thinking about it since the canoe race and he was starting to work himself into a panic.

Lovi frowned, but stood and then glanced back toward her sister, who had her head cocked to the side curiously. "You make sure you save a spot for us."

"Okay!"

Antonio took her hand as soon as she'd walked close-enough and started leading her around to the opposite side of the building where they brought in delivery trucks. He knew no one would be there.

She jerked her hand out of his as soon as he'd stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. "What was so important you had to drag me away when they were just about to open? Now we're going to have to stand in line _forever_."

Antonio cut her off, which he normally didn't do. But right now he was too worried to wait for her to finish complaining at him. "I didn't ask Señor Roma."

Lovi blinked at him for a few seconds, as if what he'd said didn't make any sense. But he was pretty sure it did… Maybe.

Apparently not, though, as she asked "Nonno? Ask Nonno what?"

"If I could marry you, querida." It wasn't that he and Lovi's grandfather didn't get along. It was just… There was a big difference between just asking to _date _Lovi and asking to _marry _Lovi and Antonio was a little worried about how he would respond to the second request. Especially since he hadn't asked for her grandfather's blessing _before _he asked Lovi if she'd be his wife.

Lovina's response was a little surprising, as she didn't say anything for a few long moments. She frowned at the earth, tapped her sandaled feet a few times, then looked up and met him with a very calm expression. "Yeah, you're kind of screwed."

Which wasn't what Antonio had hoped to hear. He deflated. "Sí?"

"I don't see why it really matters, though. I mean, he's gonna be kinda pissed, but it's not like we're living in the middle ages. You don't need to make some deal with my family to marry me." She rested a fist against her hip and scowled at him. "You regret it now, or something?"

"Of course not!" He hurriedly took a few steps forward until he could pull her into his arms and press a kiss to her forehead. "I'm so happy, prometida. I just wish I was better at this…"

She snorted and wrapped her arms around his neck, probably-on-purpose pressing a fist against his temple in the process. "Stupid, it's not like you've gotten to _practice _or anything. Nonno will get over it. He's like Feli; neither of them knows how to hold a grudge."

Hopefully she was right. He knew the first thing he'd do once they returned home, though. He'd arrange to talk with her grandfather, explain how much he loved Lovi and how he was going to love her and take care of her forever and ever… And hopefully he wouldn't be too angry after that.

For now, Antonio smiled and then leaned in and shared a kiss that stretched out for quite a long time. As Lovi pressed herself against him, one of her hands fisting in his hair while he wrapped his arms around her waist.

And then the dinner bell rang, startling them apart.

And Lovi immediately jumped back and looked away. Which was a little disappointing since it wasn't like they needed to _stop _just because the bell rang.

"Well, anyway, it's not like anybody else knows. You could just go to Nonno, ask his blessing, and then _pretend _like you just asked me."

Antonio frowned. "But that'd be lying."

She crossed her arms over her chest and sent him an annoyed look. "Barely. It's just not telling him the whole story. And it makes it easier on _me _too, since then _I _won't have to just out of the blue tell them that I'm engaged."

"But you are happy, Lovi? You are _happy _that we're engaged, right?"

It was amazing, how Lovinita could have so many annoyed looks. He was pretty sure this was his special one. "I—" She was pouting and turning tomato-red as she looked away from him. "I—course. Stupid."

Antonio beamed in response and reached out to take her hand in his. "Then we should go get dinner, sí."

She nodded while still looking away and didn't move to remove her hand from his.

The line still wasn't that long. Feli and Ludwig were already getting food and Francis and Gill were standing a few people behind. Francis had to push Gill along when the line moved since she was too distracted by a conversation she was having with her…cousin, was it? Eli. Antonio hurriedly pulled Lovi into line before it could get any longer and spent their time waiting swinging their hands back and forth and thinking over what he'd say to her grandfather.

On the one hand, he very much hated lying, but Lovi was right that it would make things easier on her. And if Antonio just asked for his blessing, he didn't _have _to say that he'd gotten her response already. If you really thought about it, then didn't lots of people get their fiancée's response before they asked her parents? You wouldn't go through all the trouble of asking her parents if you thought she might say no.

It made sense to Antonio, although he knew that he wasn't the best at this sort of thinking. If he could ask Francis, but he was pretty sure that Lovi didn't want Francis or anybody else to know yet.

It was hard keeping a secret, though. Very hard. Especially from Francis. Antonio had _always _told Francis everything. He was his best friend, after all…

And he was startled out of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of Yong Soo, holding a box that was so big that only his eyes were visible over the top of it.

"I found you a better present, da ze~!"

Antonio and Lovi and the entire rest of the dining hall—as everybody in the room had stopped talking and was now watching to see what was going to happen—stared at him in confusion.

"Uh…" Antonio glanced toward Lovi, who looked just as lost as he felt. "Hola, Yong Soo…"

He was interrupted before he could ask what he was talking about, as Yong Soo shoved the box into his arms. And not only was it big, but it was also _heavy_, and something inside was moving.

He just stood there for a second, but then he set the box on the floor and opened the flaps.

And found a _huge _turtle inside.

Now, Antonio did like turtles. But this was a very unexpected present and he was _still _positive that it wasn't his or Lovi's birthdays or any other anniversary or special date. So he glanced up and asked, "Um, why are you giving us a present?"

"Chigi~ Is that a snapping turtle?"

"Snapping turtles originate in Korea!" He nodded proudly toward the box and then turned toward Antonio. "It's an engagement present, da ze~!"

And Antonio could have sworn that he felt his heart stop beating at those words. As he felt Lovi immediately tense beside him and what seemed like a million eyes suddenly zeroed in on the two of them.

Including the narrowing, not very-happy eyes of Grandpa Roma.

This was very very bad…

* * *

A/N: Darn it, Yong Soo. You have the lousiest of all lousy timings.

Also, where did he find a snapping turtle and how did he get it into a box without losing any of his fingers?

The world may never know.

Well, now the secret's out and Antonio's going to have to deal with a lot of upset people in the next few minutes. Including a Lovi who will probably attempt to kill Yong Soo with the snapping turtle.


	55. Chapter 55: Ludwig

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 55**

It's rare for there to be moments that are completely devoid of sound, particularly when you consider the present company. But no one has even seemed to _breathe_ in the last few minutes. It almost feels like the word is _echoing _over their heads.

Ludwig turns his head toward Feli, who has stopped eating and is staring at her sister with a shocked expression, fork halfway to her mouth. She seems to notice Ludwig's attention and sets the fork down, forcing a smile. "Ve~ Yong Soo said Lovi's engaged. Isn't that silly?"

"You bastard!" And Ludwig's attention is redirected to Lovina and Antonio, as Lovi had just thrown herself at Yong Soo and was attempting to strangle him. Antonio was doing his best to hold her back.

And now their grandfather was walking toward the trio, a very fake smile plastered on his face.

"Antonio, can I talk to you outside? _Alone_?"

"Uh," he glanced toward Lovi, who was still glaring at Yong Soo with homicide in her eyes.

Mr. Roma frowned and then walked over to her. "Lovi, leave Yong Soo alone. I'm sure he didn't mean to do anything wrong…"

Lovi crossed her arms over her chest, but stopped making threatening motions toward the other student. Who didn't look like he even understood that he'd blabbed something that Lovi didn't want anyone else to know about.

Ludwig felt like he was watching a tennis match or something. He kept glancing between what was going on up front and how Feli was responding to it. Right now, she was staring at her sister with an expression that was rapidly moving from shocked to something else… She was actually starting to look absolutely devastated.

"Feli, are you—"

"Wait a second!" And Gill's outburst interrupted him, as she jumped up from where she'd been sitting next to Francis. "You guys are getting _married _and you didn't tell us?"

Ludwig could see Francis grab Gill's hand and pull her back down, whispering something that hopefully went along the lines of 'let's not make a big scene in front of everyone and talk about this later.' Antonio looked completely overwhelmed, as now he was looking between his friends, Lovi, and her grandfather.

Mr. Roma made the decision of who to deal with first for him, as he reached down and grabbed his sleeve, tugging him toward the door. "I'll talk to you later, Lovi."

Lovina just stood there for a moment, looking extremely unhappy, before she noticed all of the eyes still fixed on her. She responded with a glare that travelled from group to group. Then she spun around and walked out the opposite door.

Which seemed to trigger everyone else to start whispering and chattering amongst themselves. Ludwig ignored them, now totally fixed on Feli. Who was staring at her plate with an empty expression.

"Feli?"

She looked up at her name and sent him a quick smile that didn't actually reassure him. "Ve~ I don't think I'm very hungry right now, Ludwig. I'm going to go work on my painting some more, okay?"

"Um…" Ludwig wasn't sure how to respond. Obviously she was upset, but he had no idea if he should say anything or not… "Okay."

"Ve~ I'll see you later, Ludwig!" And she immediately got up and walked out of the room. Leaving her half-filled plate behind her.

If Ludwig had needed a sign to know that something was wrong with Feli, that would have been it. Feli _never _left her plate until every last crumb was gone…

He glanced around the room for a moment, unsure what he should do. Should he follow her? But she'd left without him, so didn't that mean she wanted to be alone?

Ludwig sometimes wished he was better at knowing what people were thinking… Especially when that person was Feli.

"Did _you _know about this?"

And he'd been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed his sister moving up behind him and sliding into Feli's seat. Francis had followed her, although he chose to stand and lean against the wall behind them.

Ludwig frowned at Gill for a moment. "You shouldn't have brought that up in front of everyone."

She made a dismissive motion toward him. "Yeah, I know. I already got chewed out for it by Franny. You didn't answer my question. Did _Feli _tell you her sister and Tonio are tying the knot?" She frowned. "This means I'm gonna lose my bet for sure."

Ludwig knew better than to ask what she was talking about; he probably didn't want to know. "No."

"I don't think anyone knew, Gilly," Francis cut in before she could say anything else. "They probably just wanted to wait to tell us 'til we got back home."

"But now we gotta start thinking about planning an awesome wedding! We've gotta know as soon as possible or we won't have time to make it super insanely awesome!"

Francis shook his head slightly. "I imagine Antoine, Lovina, Antoine's maman, and Lovina's grand-père will be doing most of the actual wedding planning. So long as Monsieur Roma doesn't kill Antoine, since it appears that he _also _didn't tell him yet."

"Maybe they were gonna elope!" Gill quieted for a moment, probably only so she could consider the possibility of elopement. "He'd climb up to Lovi's window with a ladder and then they'd disappear into the night!"

Francis smirked, but shook his head. "I somehow doubt it…"

Ludwig frowned, but then suddenly remarked, "Feli left."

Both of them stared at him for a moment with slightly puzzled looks; then Gill glanced toward the plate in front of her. "She left her food?"

"She's probably upset," Francis responded. "Since she's Feli's sister… It was probably an even bigger shock to her than it was to the rest of us. She might be feeling hurt."

It's what Ludwig had been starting to consider, but hearing it coming from someone else was helpful. He took a deep breath and then pushed his chair back.

"Where're you going?" Gill asked.

"I'm going to go talk to Feli." He stood and motioned toward his unoccupied seat, inviting Francis to take it. Then he took his mostly-empty plate and the one Feli had left and went up to the front where everyone dumped their garbage. He conscientiously sorted the utensils and placed everything neatly in stacks on the cart that would take their dishes back to be washed.

He knew where Feli would be at least, although he had no real idea what he would say when he got there. And the walk to the arts and crafts building wasn't near long enough for him to come up with anything.

Feli was the only occupant of the building when he arrived; everyone else was most likely still at dinner. It wasn't hard to find her anyway. She was standing near one of the windows at an easel and was filling her canvas with harsh strokes of crimson and yellow…

Ludwig wasn't sure whether he should make his presence known or not. He didn't want to interrupt her, but he also didn't want to leave her alone if she felt angry or hurt. Again, he really wished he was better at knowing what to do around people. It was frustrating when he wanted to help, but he didn't know how. Especially when it was Feli who needed him...

Finally he took a few steps closer and cleared his throat. "Feli?"

She hesitated for a moment, the tip of her brush dancing over the canvas for a moment before she continued her streak of burnt orange. "Hi, Ludwig."

Her voice sounded rougher than usual and he felt a momentary twist of nervousness somewhere in his gut. He took a few steps closer again and then said, "I—I was just wondering if you were okay."

She didn't turn, just continued to paint. He couldn't have even begun to guess at what she was painting. Something hot and burning…

"Ve~ Of course I'm fine, Ludwig." She didn't sound fine.

He frowned and finally walked around to stand beside her easel. She dipped her head down as he moved close… And that's when he saw the tear tracks.

"Feli…" He still didn't know what to say. All he could do was stand there awkwardly as she sniffed and then wiped at her cheeks with her sleeve… Which smeared red paint onto her skin. "I'm…"

She sniffled and then set her paintbrush down on the table and looked up at Ludwig. "It's stupid to feel sad, ve…"

He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to agree or not. She continued before he had the chance to make anything worse.

"I just… I don't even know why I'm sad…" She looked up at Ludwig with this pleading expression, like she wanted him to explain her feelings to her.

Which he couldn't do, so… He did the only thing he could think of.

He slowly crossed the floor to stand in front of her and then pulled her into his arms and held her as tightly as he could.

She immediately responded by wrapping her own arms around him and squeezing as tightly as she could. And he felt his shirt gradually become more and more damp as she cried against him.

* * *

A/N: Poor Feli. :( She needs to have a good long talk with Lovi… Preferably after Lovi calms down.

For those who are wondering. _Yes _this story is almost finished. Very close. We just need to play a little paintball now. And since it's getting to be nice weather and my anxiety-inducing paper is almost done, I should be able to write more often, which will be quite nice. Although I still need to find a summer job, since the one that I was told I had fell through. Because people are jerks and you should never trust them. =.=

So yes, all that to say that this story will not be taking too much longer to finish up. Huzzah!


	56. Chapter 56: Lovina

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 56**

She should have known. She really should've _guessed _that something like this would happen. That something unexpected would appear out of fucking _nowhere_ and destroy her plans.

Lovina pouted to herself as she dug her hands into her pockets and glared at the trees that surrounded her. She'd just wanted to keep the engagement a secret for a little while, long enough to get used to the idea herself. But fucking _Yong Soo _had to go and blab to everyone.

How in the world had he even known?

And what made things worse was that she was lost in the woods now and it was starting to get dark.

She hated the dark, especially dark forests. It reminded her of that time…when she was little.

This was all Antonio's fault; it had to be. He must have said something to Yong Soo… And if he hadn't done whatever he'd done, then Yong Soo wouldn't have told everyone that they were getting married. And if he hadn't told, then she wouldn't have run out into the woods and gotten lost.

So it was Antonio's fault that she was lost in the woods right now.

She glared at the trees as if they'd purposely gone out of their way to confuse her and then sighed in defeat. She pulled her hand out of her pocket, holding her cell phone. The problem was figuring out who to call. Antonio only owned a super crappy cell phone that didn't get service out here. Feli always forgot to carry or charge hers so the likelihood of her having it working and on her was practically zilch. Her nonno would probably get lost trying to find her.

Lovi frowned as she ran down the names. And then stopped on one… Well, there were worse people to call.

It seemed to ring forever and _ever_. Long enough for her to consider hanging up and trying someone else. But then it finally stopped and she was greeted with, "Da?"

"Took you long enough, bastard." Not only was it getting dark, but it was also getting cold. She wished she'd thought to bring a sweater out with her. "You need to come and get me before I freeze to death." She wondered, not for the first time, why they couldn't have gone to somewhere like a spa or a beach resort. That'd have been _much _more fun than camping.

Ivan didn't respond for a moment. Then he asked, "Did you get lost in the woods, Loviyasha?"

"No, I just don't want to be out here alone anymore." She clenched the phone tighter in her hand. It was like it was her last link with the world outside of this dark, monster-filled forest. "There're definitely bears out here and since you're big like a bear, you can scare them away."

The silence after these words lasted so long that she thought he might have left the phone. Her throat clenched tightly. "Oi…"

"I will find you, Loviyasha, do not worry." And then he was gone.

Stupid bastard hadn't even asked where she thought she was. Or if she wanted him to bring her a jacket.

She sighed and then dropped down onto a fallen tree, wrapping her arms around herself in a not-very-effective attempt to stay warm.

She felt like she was sitting there for hours, feeling the darkness creeping toward her. She didn't even notice as she hunched forward, eyes constantly darting from shadow to shadow. Memories of a frightened little girl…

"Hello, Loviyasha."

And she'd been so lost in thoughts and memories that she'd somehow managed to miss the sound of Ivan coming up to her. She startled, managed to completely lose her balance, and fell to the ground in a sprawl of limbs.

Which was one of the clumsier things she'd done in quite a while. For a moment she just lay there, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Then she jumped up, face probably red as a tomato and spun toward the stupid Russian ninja bastard.

"Why are you sneaking up on me, stupid bastard?!" He didn't even look sorry. "I was thinking hard and you surprised me, that's all!"

Ivan was standing behind her, near where she'd been sitting. And he was staring at her with a stupid, calm expression. He was dressed much more appropriately for the weather, in a pair of jeans and a big blue hoodie. And in his arms he was holding what looked like another hoodie, this one red.

He blinked a couple times, then smiled and held the hoodie out toward her. "I didn't mean to scare you, Loviyasha. It took me a few minutes to find you."

Lovi glared at the offering for a couple seconds, considering whether she should refuse it just on principle. But she was cold, so she took it and slipped it on over her tank-top. It was so big on her that it fell to cover most of her shorts and hands.

"How _did _you find me?"

Ivan had started walking in the direction he must have come from. She had to hurry to keep up with his ridiculous strides. "I just followed your tracks, da?"

She snorted, but couldn't think of anything to say in response to that. So she just pouted to herself as she almost-tripped over an exposed tree root.

Ivan seemed content to walk in silence, but it almost made it feel like the darkness was trying to crush them. Lovi glanced around, not sure what she was looking for, and then blurted out, "Stupid bastard Yong Soo ruined everything."

Which wasn't what she'd meant to say at all, but there it was, hanging between them. Ivan didn't respond for a moment, and then asked in a cheery voice, "Do you want me to talk to him? I can be very good at talking to people."

Lovi snorted. Yeah, he'd 'talk' to him with a lead pipe and a cheerful smile. And knowing Yong Soo, he still wouldn't get the clue. 'Pipes originate in Korea, da ze~!' he'd say.

The mental image was tempting, but she shook her head. "Neh, it wouldn't do anything." There was something about Ivan's presence that made her feel a little calmer. Plus the walk had probably done some good.

It had given her time to think about some other things, though. "Now I'm gonna have to deal with all sorts of stupid questions, though. Like when the wedding's gonna be, who're gonna be my bridesmaids." She kicked at a rock that had the misfortune of being in her path. "That's a stupid idea, anyway. Bridesmaids. What if I don't wanna have just girls be my bridesmaids?" She kicked another rock, but this one was anchored in and didn't move, which just left her with a sore foot.

Ivan had slowed down so that now they were walking side by side. He was staring up at the tree limbs above them, as if something interesting were up there. "You can have whatever you want, I think. It's your wedding, da?"

"Well, then _you _should be one of my bridesmen…" She hurriedly amended, "Not that I _want _you to; it's just too much work to think of anyone else."

"Of course, Loviyasha~"

Lovi had turned pink and hurriedly continued as she looked away, "The tomato bastard's gonna have the albino bastard be one of his groomsmen anyway. Feli's gonna have to be my maid of honor or she'd cry." Ugh, wedding planning…

"You maybe want to talk to Felishka, da? She seemed very sad."

Lovi looked up at him, surprised by this. "Why would she be sad? She think I didn't wanna tell her or something?" That was probably it, knowing Feli. Stupid little sister had probably managed to convince herself that Lovi hadn't wanted to tell her.

She groaned and would've smacked her head against something if she hadn't been busy walking toward camp. Actually, no need to hurt _herself_, she'd just smack Feli's head against something when she caught up with her.

Of _course_ she would've told Feli first. She would've told Feli, then Nonno, then probably the Russian bastard that she was currently walking with…

…She wasn't actually sure who she'd tell after that. It wasn't like she had all that many friends…

No! It was just that she wouldn't _need _to tell anybody else because Feli would've already blabbed to half of the town by that point. Yes, that was exactly what would've happened. Or Antonio might get to them first.

"We were _going to _tell everybody after a little bit. You don't tell people you're engaged right after you're engaged, stupid bastards…" Actually, maybe you did. It wasn't like she knew many engaged people.

They'd finally made it to the edge of the woods. Not too much longer before they'd split up. "You should tell Felishka then, da?"

"Yeah, yeah." She walked ahead of him and slid her hands into the hoodie's front pocket, which served as a reminder that she was wearing his hoodie. She turned and pushed the fabric out with the hands still hidden away in the pocket. "You want this back now?"

Ivan was still smiling. He did that a lot. She spent too much time around smiley people. "Nyet. You can keep it for now, Loviyasha." And with that, he turned and began walking away toward the guys' dorms.

She hesitated for a moment. And then called out, "Thanks for keeping the bears away, bastard!" before spinning around and hurrying away before he could respond.

It was apparently time to find her stupid little sister and straighten some shit out.

* * *

A/N: I finished my senior thesis today! And decided to reward myself by writing a chapter of JaLP! Yay!

It feels weird. All I have left is an exam on Monday and I'll be done with my undergraduate degree. (Unless I have to defend my paper, which would suck so I hope it won't happen...) Now I just have to find a job… Which is proving extremely difficult.

ANYWAY… Yay! More time to write!


	57. Chapter 57: Francis

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 57**

He didn't know what to feel.

Scratch that. He knew exactly how he _should _feel. Overjoyed, ecstatic, so happy that his best friend was getting married. It only showed how terrible a person he was that he was having trouble even _faking _his happiness.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen this coming since they were children. Antonio had always been Lovina's… Destined soul mates.

So why wasn't he in their cabin right now, congratulating his best friend on his engagement like everyone else? He'd stayed for a few minutes, just long enough to pat Antonio on the shoulder and congratulate him on his engagement and on escaping Lovina's grandfather at least mostly intact.

From what he'd said, apparently Mr. Roma had spent a while threatening him, then had grilled him about his feelings for Lovi, and had then given him his blessing. With another threat or five attached.

His best friend would be getting married soon. And Francis knew that Antonio would most likely ask him to be his best man. Which he had to get over whatever-this-was right now.

Why was he pretending, though? He wasn't like Arthur—always in denial over his own feelings—Francis knew exactly what was wrong. He was still in love with Antonio. He'd _always _been in love with him and marriage…

Antonio had always been out of reach, as he _should _be, but hope was always such a stupid and irrational thing. Sometimes Francis would fantasize that maybe something would happen. Maybe Lovi would fall in love with someone else.

But once they were married… That was it.

And it was good. Francis _was _happy for both of them, but he still felt that ache…

And now he sighed and glanced around, forcing those thoughts away. He'd been walking for a while now and had made his way down to the waterfront. It was dark, so dark that he could barely see the water outside of the narrow beam created by his flashlight. It was chilly, but he'd changed into a pair of jeans and somebody's hoodie—probably Leon's—before he'd left.

You would think that the fact that it was dark and cold would keep everybody else inside. But apparently not, as he noticed someone standing at the very edge of the water, wear it lapped against the beach. A very small figure.

"Bonjour?"

The figure turned and he brought the flashlight up to illuminate them. And blinked in surprise as she turned.

"Hello, Francis."

"Lily?" He'd completely forgotten that she was even here; actually, he'd thought that she and her brother went home ages ago. "What are you doing here?"

She folded her hands in front of her very neatly and responded. "Big brother and I decided to help out with the paintball course. We've been working on it very hard for the past few days."

…Well, that was…slightly worrying. Vash had apparently spent quite a few days designing a paintball course. Francis hadn't really been looking forward to paintball in the first place; now he was slightly terrified.

Although… "Where is your brother?"

She frowned slightly and then answered, "I'm not sure. He said that he wanted to check out one of the traps before we finished for the night. I was a little tired, so I decided to come out here and watch the water."

Francis was starting to develop an idea in his mind. "Can you show me some of the course? Just a little bit…"

"That doesn't seem very fair."

"Oh, it's not for the game." Honestly, Francis was probably going to try to get himself out as early as possible so he could just leave and find himself a snack or something, because running around in the woods, diving in mud? No thank you. "You know Arthur and Ally, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, I'm sure you're well aware that the two of them are in love with each other," because everyone knew that, "and they're also romantically-retarded."

Lily didn't seem to know how to respond to that. "I'm not sure."

"What they really need," Francis continued before she could think too hard about it, "Is some time spent alone together. Separated from everyone else. Where they can't escape. And I was thinking," he bulldozed forward. "What if there was somewhere in the course where they could be led astray, away from the others… Wouldn't that be helpful? To help get them together?"

Lily still looked rather unsure, although he could see her starting to waver. So he continued.

"L'amour, oui? Those two idiots are absolutely in love with each other, but they're both too scared to admit it. What they need is to _talk _it out, but they can't talk it out with all of these distractions. What I can do is lure them to some area of the woods where they'll get lost and be _forced _to talk to each other." He smirked to himself as he imagined how irritated Arthur would be. But Francis was doing it for their own good, oui.

Besides, this was a last resort. He'd tried practically everything else. This was like a large-scale 'locking them in a closet to sort out their sexual frustration'.

If this didn't work, then maybe he'd actually have to do that literally.

"Will you promise that you won't use it to cheat?"

Francis bowed. "I promise, chéri, that I will not use anything that you tell me tonight to cheat. I will not even attempt to win the game after putting my plan into action; after I've lured Arthur and Allison away from the others, then I will allow myself to be 'shot' and will be forced out of the game."

It was too bad that he and Arthur had finished up all the alcohol he'd snuck in. Finally getting those two idiots together would be cause for celebration. He'd have to postpone it 'til he'd gone home and had access to as much alcohol as he wanted.

She continued to look a little unsure, but she finally nodded. "Okay, but you've got to be careful walking through the woods in the dark. Especially with big brother's traps."

…Yeah, about that. "When you say traps…"

"Oh, there's nothing dangerous," she hurriedly reassured him. "Just paint buckets in the trees and crackers and other things."

…He was definitely getting himself out as soon as possible. Hopefully he could lead Arthur and Ally off course early on in the game, as that would not only be nice for him, but it would also give them _plenty _of time together. They'd probably need all of it, since they needed to get past their mutual idiocy.

Two idiots in love. No wonder they'd fallen for each other.

And while he was planning _this_, he should also start considering what he was going to do when Antonio came up to him and wanted to talk about his engagement. Francis was quite sure that Antonio would want to talk as soon as possible; he'd probably ask him to be his best man.

But for tonight, Francis was going to focus on the two idiots in love and how he, Francis Bonnefoy, the expert of l'amour, was going to get them to admit that they were head over heels for each other.

* * *

A/N: Good luck, Francis! I wish you well!

Let's see… Not too much to say about the chapter, except that Francis has this fun habit of stealing people's clothing. That's why he mentions that his hoodie is probably Leon's. There's a reason for it, but yeah… Poor Leon. And Arthur. And Antonio. Although Antonio generally doesn't notice when his stuff goes missing because he's a bit air-headed. *pats*

In other news, I am now officially a college graduate! Weeee~ And will hopefully have a job by this time next week, since I had four interview this past week. One of them has to work out, right?


	58. Chapter 58: Feliciana

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 58**

"Feli… Hey, Feli…"

Feliciana was the type of person who took a long time to wake up. She began to regain consciousness, but slowly and not happily. She rolled away from the voice, tugging her blanket over her ears to try to block out the noise.

Unfortunately, her sister had never been one to show much sympathy, which was why she now pulled the blanket away and then shoved Feli up against the wall. "Wake up, stupid!"

Her method did work, however, as her sister jumped awake. She kicked out automatically, however, and almost caught her sister in the jaw. "Ve~!"

"Shh!" Feli blinked sleepily as she tried to catch up with what had just happened. She was awake now and she could see her sister standing over her, holding a flashlight that blinded her when she accidentally looked into it.

"You're gonna wake everyone up, stupid," Lovi scolded as she pulled her hand away. Feli thought it was a little unfair that Lovi was saying that when _she _wasn't trying hard to be very quiet.

"Ve~ why did you wake me up?" Feli whispered as she sat up and glanced around the dark room. She could hear the breathing of the room's other occupants, Gill's soft snores…

Lovi tossed something over her head, sending her into darkness. "Put this on and then come outside." And then she scooted away without any other explanation.

Feli's sister was really really _weird _sometimes. Feli obeyed, though. She pulled the fabric over her head and found herself holding a dark blue hoodie. She stood, trying to be as quiet as possible as she tugged the hoodie on over her nightgown and then slid her feet into her sandals.

She left the cabin; her sister was standing a little ways away. And it was _really _cold out here.

"Why'd you wake me up, Lovi?" she repeated, confused about why she was standing outside in the middle of the night.

Lovi crossed her arms over her chest, sending the flashlight beam off in a random direction. "Cuz we've gotta talk and tomorrow's gonna be all busy and you're always around that potato bastard anyway."

Feli blinked a few times. "Talk?"

Her sister frowned and then spun around and began walking away. "Not here. There may be people spying on us."

"But, I think everybody's asleep." Feli really wished she was still asleep. She liked sleep. A lot. And she didn't understand why Lovi had woken her up. If she wanted to talk, they could've just talked sometime tomorrow.

But she followed, because she was awake now and she might as well find out what was going on with her sister.

Her sister. Who was now _engaged_. Feli had been thinking about that all day. It was hard to believe… Well, no, it wasn't really that hard to _believe_; she'd always known that Lovi and Antonio would get married someday…but it was hard to wrap her head around the fact that they were engaged _now_. They'd get married soon and Antonio would be her brother-in-law and Lovi would move out.

And Lovi hadn't been the one to tell her… Everyone had found out at the same time. And it wasn't Lovi's fault; she knew that. But it still felt weird, though, and made her feel a little sad.

She followed her sister past all of the cabins and down the hill until they'd reached the playground. Lovi immediately bee-lined toward the swings, sat down on one of them and started kicking her feet. Feli mimicked the action, watching out of the corner of her eye as Lovi stared up at the sky and frowned in thought.

Patience wasn't one of Feli's stronger virtues, but she could tell that it would be a good thing to practice right now. Lovi looked like she needed time to think. So Feli pumped her legs and swung higher and higher, the feel of the wind rushing past her and whipping her hair around her face and her nightgown around her legs.

Lovi spoke after a few minutes. "It's stupid to be scared of something like getting married. Only a dumb scaredy-cat would be scared of something like that."

Feli didn't respond immediately. She stopped kicking her feet and the swing began to slow. Lovi was scared of getting married? She guessed it made sense—she'd probably be scared too if she were in the same situation—but Lovi usually refused to show any signs of her fear… Now she was sitting on her swing and staring down at the earth, squeezing the chains so hard that her hands were white.

Feli had always thought of her sister as being the fearless one. When they were little girls, Lovi would be the one who would come into Feli's room and yell at the monsters in the closet to go back to their monster land and leave her alone. And she'd let Feli climb into her bed after a nightmare and stroke her hair until she fell asleep.

It was weird to suddenly realize that her brave, big sister was afraid of getting married.

But, at the same time this made Feli feel a little happy. It was her turn to make her sister feel better. She waited a few more seconds and then responded, "I don't think so… I think lots of people are scared before they get married."

Lovi snorted, but didn't otherwise respond. So Feli continued, "It's a big change, right? And you don't have any practice being married." Unless you counted the time they'd all played 'wedding' together when they were little and Gill had been the preacher-man and Lovi and Antonio had been the bride and groom. Lovi'd worn one of Gill's mama's sheets as a veil and by the end of the wedding it'd been covered in mud.

That probably didn't count, though.

"And," Feli continued, "I bet Antonio's nervous too, but you two love each other lots and I know you're gonna be super happy together!" Although she felt a little saddened by the idea, because this would mean that Lovi would be moving out. And they might not see each other a lot.

It was hard to imagine a house without Lovi. Just her and Nonno.

But she wasn't going to think of that now, cause it'd just make her sad and she was supposed to be helping her sister, not making things worse.

With that thought, she hopped off her seat and hurried over to her sister. Who gave her a stare like she was insane.

"You know what'll make you feel better?"

Lovi's expression rested somewhere between confused and suspicious. "What?"

"I'll push you on the swing!" She grabbed onto the chains right above her sister's hands. "Just like when we were little!" Although, when they were little it was usually Lovi pushing her, but she was willing to change some things now.

Her sister didn't answer; she just sat there motionlessly with her eyes fixed on her. Then Lovi shook her head and finally loosened her grip on the chains. "You don't need to pretend, silly stupid sister. I know how you get when you're worried."

Feli frowned. "But…"

"Just cause I'm getting married doesn't mean I'm gonna abandon you." She reached out a finger and poked the tip of Feli's nose. "I still gotta keep a close eye on you; otherwise the potato bastard'll take advantage of you cause you're totally oblivious like that."

Feli blinked.

"That's mostly why I wanted to talk to you now, when people couldn't eavesdrop. Cause they'd start thinking I'm going soft… Which I'm not!" She scowled and her eyes told Feli that she'd better not even start _thinking _that she was going soft. "But I wanted to tell you that just cause I'm getting married doesn't mean that anything's gonna change with us. You're still my stupid little sister and I'm still gonna watch out for you and make sure all the bastards you like to hang out with don't take advantage of you. And, of course I was gonna tell you that Antonio and I are engaged before anybody else." She snorted and pouted a little bit at the memory of how that had come out…

Feli didn't move for a moment, just letting the words hang between them for a moment. Then she smiled from ear to ear and then lunged forward, throwing her arms around her sister's neck. Lovi yelped and clung to the chains as she almost slid off and the swing rocked back and forth crazily. "I love you, Lovi! I love you so much! Ve~ And I'm so happy!"

Lovi had to take a few moments to catch her breath and fix her feet in the dirt to get them under control. But then she scoffed lightly and moved her head to butt lightly against Feli's… "Yeah, yeah. You know this is gonna mean you're gonna be my maid of honour. And that's a _ton _of work."

Feli grinned as she nuzzled her face into her sister's hair. "But it'll be lots of fun, too!"

And for a moment Lovi didn't respond or move. But then she slowly brought her arms up and wrapped them around her sister. And then pulled her closer… As a smile began to twitch across her lips. "Yeah. Yeah, it will be."

* * *

A/N: It has been a while, hasn't it? I think last time I posted was before I got my job? Probably… I'm working as a cashier at Lowe's now. Not anything exciting, but at least I'm getting a paycheck for the first time in three months! WOOHOO MONEY!

In other news, I'm participating in an auction that y'all might be interested in. A group of people are putting it on to help fund a convention called DashCon that'll be happening next summer. And they're auctioning off commissions. So, if any of y'all are interested in commissioning me for a fanfic of your choice, they haven't started bidding yet (that'll happen June 16th to the 22nd), but you can follow **hetaliacommittee . tumblr . com** to find out all the information when the time comes.

I'll also post the link on my tumblr to remind y'all. :)


	59. Chapter 59: Gillian

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 59**

"All right, everyone! This is it! This is our last chance to crush Ally's unawesome team into dust!" Gillian gazed down upon her teammates from on top of the bench that she'd decided would be a good place to inspirit them from. And was met with nothing but blank stares, eye rolls, and a few yawns. One of the yawners was Feli, who should really know better.

Gill couldn't understand why none of her teammates seemed to understand the concept of 'team spirit'. She'd be better off with a team made up of slugs. Gooey, slimy slugs like the ones she'd put in Ludwig's bed once upon a time.

She frowned as she looked over her teammates, all of whom were being unawesome and more unhelpful than slugs. Even Francis wasn't paying attention to her; he was watching Arthur, who was one of the ones who had rolled his eyes at her.

Everybody was totally, unawesomely lame. But she continued, because they were _so _close to crushing Ally's team into teeny tiny pieces.

"Today we're going to play paintball! And whichever team has the most teammates still left standing when Mr. Roma yells time wins!" She stomped a foot against the bench under her feet, which helped her gain her teammates' attention. Elizabeta sighed from where she was standing beside her brother, who sent Gill a grin. If only _he _could play for them today instead of _her._

"Vash is gonna make a bunch of boring announcements about rules and stuff. But the absolutely most important rule is what I'm gonna tell you right now. Which is to show _no mercy_! Squish the unawesome team under your boots like slimy slugs!"

Feli held up her hand. "Ve~ But, won't that hurt them?"

Ludwig hurriedly responded before Gill could open her mouth, looking rather worried by the question. "She's not being literal. Nobody is _actually _going to squish anyone." And then he sent her a _look _like he thought she might try.

And sure, if it was _just _Allison on that team, then she may consider doing a little toe-crushing-under-boots... But it wasn't like she was gonna hurt Mattie or Antonio or Kiku or anybody like that.

"Crushing like soul-crushing! Ally's soul shall be crushed by our boots! Except by boots we mean paintball guns!" Gill nodded to herself and then jumped down from the bench. "Everybody put their hands in now for our team cheer!"

Which she'd come up with all by herself last night. It was awesome and perfectly reflected the awesomeness that her teammates should strive for.

The fact that none of them came over to join her for the team cheer was rather unawesome, though. Lizzie made a kind of 'humph' noise and turned to wander over to where Roderich was standing with his teammates in a huddle of camaraderie. Natalya was watching her brother like a hawk, as usual. Heracles was asleep…

Even _Francis _was being unhelpful, as he was staring off at where Vash was standing ramrod straight, guarding the course and the paintball guns.

Gill pouted and thrust her fists into her pockets. "Fine! You guys are going to doom us to defeat now, 'cause you refused to do the awesome team cheer!"

At least Francis finally returned from whatever 'la-la' world he'd entered. He flashed her a sort of smirky grin. And then said, "Don't worry, Gilly. We'll make sure to win for you."

It'd have to do. She nodded and then hurried over to where the guns were; she had to get there before Ally to make sure she got the absolute _best _one.

Unfortunately, Vash moved in her way and crossed his arms over his chest. Sending her a glare like he wouldn't mind taking one of those guns and shooting _her _right now.

"Before you're allowed to take one of these weapons, you will have to read through our pamphlet on paintball gun safety, sign a waiver, and listen to a talk I will be giving in five minutes."

"Aw, come on! Awesome just wants to pick one out!" She glanced over to where Ally was standing with her sister and the rest of her team. And they were actually _huddled _up like a real team. Well, besides Lovi and Antonio, who were talking together outside the group.

Which actually reminded her…

She turned back to Vash, who was eyeing her like he expected her to grab a gun and run for it. Which would be funny, but she had other things to do right now. "Fine, gimme the papers."

He nodded and turned his head back to where his sister was standing nearby, holding a stack of papers. She smiled and walked forward, separating a few sheets into a little pile that she handed to Gill. "Here you go."

She was a cutie, like a little Gilbird. How did some siblings who were totally awesome and adorable, like her and Lily, end up with unawesome and unadorable siblings like Vash and Ludwig? It was a mystery that she'd someday solve with lots of experiments.

But not today. She grinned and leaned forward to ruffle the younger girl's hair. And then bounced away as Vash sent her a glare of doom.

"Tonio!"

Antonio was at least happy to see her. He looked up from his conversation with Lovi and smiled brightly. "Hola, Gill!"

If only Antonio had been assigned to her team. He might not do very well at the whole 'crushing' thing, but at least he'd try to help her win.

That wasn't why she'd come over here, though. She stopped when she was standing in front of them and put on her most serious face. "You didn't tell me and Franny that you two are getting married!"

Antonio's face fell into that guilty expression that he got whenever he did something wrong. And he glanced toward Lovi, as if wanting her to explain things.

She pouted and sent Gill another dirty look, her eyes narrowing slightly. "We hadn't told anybody yet. Not even Feli."

"I'm sorry, Gilly," Antonio cut in. "We were going to tell you right after we told Feli and her grandpa…"

"Did he get super pissed at you?" Gill could totally imagine that. He'd probably threatened Antonio within an inch of his life.

And the look of slight fear that crossed Antonio's face at that question was all the answer she needed. She giggled and bounced on the soles of her feet before she forced a serious face. "Well, you know you're gonna have to make it up to me and Franny, you know! We're gonna definitely have to make you pay!"

Lovi scowled. "Antonio just said we were going to tell you."

Gill shook her head and pointed a finger at him. Antonio looked extremely worried right now, which was awesomely funny. "You still should've told us before Yong Soo blabbed it. You should have super skills at seeing into the future. Not _my _fault you don't."

"But…"

She shook the still outstretched finger. "Nope! No talking! I gotta tell you your punishment!"

She now pulled her hand back and pressed her finger against her chin as if she were deep in thought. "It's gotta be severe enough to fit the crime…"

Lovi looked seriously pissed off, which was totally awesome actually. Gillian could approve of a wife who was gonna be protective over Tonio. He'd definitely need it.

"Okay!" Enough thinking. She pointed the finger at Antonio again. "You've gotta let me be one of your groomsmen! And I get to help Franny plan your bachelor's party and you can't say no to anything we decide on!"

Antonio blinked, sent Lovi a puzzled look… "But… I was going to ask you to be a groomsman…or groomslady anyway."

"You'd better not have any strippers at your stupid bachelor's party." Lovi pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Of course not, Lovinita!" And Gill could tell she'd completely lost all of Antonio's focus. As he turned and took both of Lovi's hands in his and _stared _into her eyes like they were in some cheesy romance novel.

Ugh, Gill could already tell she was going to hate the honeymoon stage. And they weren't even _there _yet.

"Of course there'll be strippers!" She clapped her hands once, startling the two of them out of their ooey-gooey lovey-doveyness. "Lots of 'em! All kinds! We'll even have some guy ones for Franny-pants!"

"But…" Antonio started to protest.

Gill didn't give him the chance to say anything, as she jumped forward and patted him on the shoulder. "Have fun! We're going to crush your team!" And then ran away, cackling to herself.

Messing with Antonio was fun. And messing with Lovi was fun too. That was something that would be super awesome about them being married; she'd have so many chances to mess with them both at the same time!

* * *

A/N: Wedding bells are riiiiiiiiiiiinging. Except not quite yet. I actually said on my tumblr that Lovi and Antonio are getting married sometime in June (I forget the exact date, whoops. xD I may have to ask people what it was I said exactly).

Umm, I can't think of anything else to say. HI! YOU'RE ALL AWESOME! Reviews are nice~ :)


	60. Chapter 60: Ally

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 60**

This sucked.

Now, Ally wasn't normally the type of person who let things get her down. She was a hero, and part of the job of a hero was going on even when things were tough.

But, this? This totally _sucked_.

She wasn't even able to work up any enthusiasm for paintball and she absolutely _loved_ paintball. She hadn't gone in years. Not since they'd moved to Pleasantville, actually. The last time she'd gone paintballing had been when she was still dating her old boyfriend and they'd gone with his friends.

And she couldn't even think about _that_ without all of the current suckiness being brought back to the forefront of her mind.

You know, this was all Francis's fault. If he hadn't said anything to her about Arthur made _liking _her, then she wouldn't have started worrying about it. And then she wouldn't have said that stuff to who-she-thought was Mattie while she was in the shower. And if she hadn't said that, then Arthur wouldn't be avoiding her now like she was infected by some deadly plague.

This sucked and she didn't know what to do.

She'd been trying to talk to Arthur all morning. But everytime she walked toward him, he walked away. She'd texted him at least a dozen times, but he refused to respond. He was currently standing with the rest of his team, not looking even once in her direction.

She didn't understand why he was acting this way. She kept running through what she'd said; how was she supposed to have known that Arthur was going to be there? It was the girls' bathroom.

What was confusing her was _why _he was so upset. She'd said they were best friends, which was the truth. Right?

Unless… Unless Francis was right. And Arthur did like her as more than a friend.

Ally stood there, puzzling over this. It would explain why Artie was avoiding her, but why in the world hadn't he _told _her that he liked her if he liked her?

And how did she feel about it, if it was true? She wasn't sure; she and Artie had been best friends practically ever since she'd arrived in town. Considering that he might like her as more than a 'best friend'… What if he wanted to date? What would she do?

Her stomach felt kind of twisty and funny and nervous. And she was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the soft sound of footfalls, so when Mattie's voiced questioningly called "Ally?" she almost leapt right out of her skin.

"What?!" she spun around to face her sister. Who was staring at her like she thought she was insane.

Mattie raised an eyebrow as Ally continued to stare at her. Then she looked over Ally's shoulder toward where Arthur and the rest of the evil albino's team were standing. "We're about to start the game. I thought you might want to talk to the team about our strategy."

"Oh, yeah." She'd completely forgotten about coming up with a strategy. She felt her stomach twist a little at that. That wasn't heroic, to let personal matters get in the way of being a good leader.

She couldn't really think right now, though. What _was _their strategy?

"Um, our strategy…" She stalled by looking around at their surroundings. Vash—who had apparently set up the paintball course they were going to be using—and his little sister were passing out guns to everyone. Mr. Roma was enthusiastically passing out masks. "Our strategy is that we're going to be as sneaky as ninjas and defeat the totally unheroic team!"

Mattie blinked a couple times and then sighed, shaking her head. "Ally, you really need to talk to Arthur."

"What? Why?" She hadn't told Mattie about what had happened in the shower room, so why would she say that?

"You keep looking at him like a little lost puppy and he keeps looking back at you when you're not looking and I think everybody's _this_ close to throttling one or both of you. So _please _do everyone a favor and talk to him?"

Ally was speechless…which didn't happen that often. Did this mean that _everybody _thought that Arthur liked her? Was she the only one who hadn't had a clue?

That was unfair. And it was unfair that Mattie was getting on _her _case. She _wanted _to talk to Artie, but he was being stubborn and refusing to even answer her texts.

She pulled her phone out one last time and quickly typed up: _we need 2 talk art_

Then she watched Arthur as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced down at the screen… And then he turned, almost reflexively, toward her.

Their eyes met. And he flushed bright red and then spun back around.

"Stubborn, isn't he?"

Now, Ally definitely hadn't heard anyone come up from behind her. Of course, she hadn't heard Mattie leave either, so maybe her observational abilities were just faulty today.

But she definitely hadn't heard even a footstep. But there Francis was, leaning against a tree behind her, as if he'd been there for hours.

Ninja moves. Well, now she knew who to be careful of during the game. Gillian wouldn't be a problem; she wouldn't know how to be quiet if you paid her. And Feli would probably get lost within the first few minutes; Ludwig would be distracted trying to keep her safe. Most of her teammates, besides Yong Soo, should have no problem sneaking up on people like ninjas. Especially Kiku.

Anyway, she'd distracted herself. Now she frowned at the enemy and crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you spying on us for the evil albino?"

"Non, although Gillian would probably be happy if I did." He rolled his shoulders and then covered his mouth with his hand as he yawned. "I've had a very busy night, chéri. But I'm quite sure that it will all be worth it…"

Ally wasn't sure if she should ask, but she did anyway. "What do you mean?"

Francis glanced pointedly over to where Arthur was standing, listening to Gill rant about something or other. "Cher Arthur is being very difficult, isn't he? I suppose we should have expected it, though. Arthur is notorious for being difficult when it comes to his feelings."

Ally wasn't sure that she was very happy with Francis right now. Because she had a strong feeling way down in her guts that everything that had happened was his fault. For one thing, why had Arthur been in the girls' shower room in the first place? She found it hard to imagine him coming in of his own volition.

Francis ignored the not-happy-face she sent him and continued, "If you want to talk to him without him being able to run off, I know how you can do it."

She frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously as she glanced back toward where Arthur was standing and still refusing to look in her direction.

"I know he's being his usual emotionally-retarded self." He paused to yawn again and then continued. "So the only way he's going to stop being an ass and actually _talk _about how he's madly in love with you is if you force him to do so."

She couldn't help asking, "How?"

And was greeted by an evil-looking grin. "Just let me take care of that, ma chéri. You just need to do exactly what I'm about to tell you to do and let me handle cher Arthur."

Ally was pretty sure she shouldn't trust him, but she also knew that if anyone could make Arthur talk to her, then it was Francis. His methods may not be very heroic, though, which made her feel uncomfortable…

But… At the same time… If she didn't, then Arthur might never talk to her again and she didn't think she could handle that. She didn't want to lose her best friend because of something like _this._

So she stood up straighter and asked, "Okay, fine. What do I do?"

* * *

A/N: I don't know what to say and my sister is being impatient because she wants to get ice cream.

Yay ice cream. I went geocaching for the first time yesterday and it was great fun.

So that is my authoress note.


	61. Chapter 61: Arthur

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 61**

Arthur was going to _kill _that wanker. He was wrap his hands around that scrawny neck and _squeeze _the life out of him and then he was going to bury him in the middle of this bloody forest. And he would never feel an ounce of regret.

He'd lost his gun a while ago—in the first or second of the many holes he'd fallen into—and was now scrambling through brush and dodging tree limbs, covered in mud and muck and leaves. He'd had buckets of gunk dropped on top of his head. Traps. Because only Vash would leave actual _traps _on a paintball course.

"Come on, mon cher," Francis was taunting him, always just a _bit _too far ahead. "You aren't even trying."

"You bloody fucking frog!" A thorn snagged on his shirt; he yanked free, leaving some fabric behind. He didn't even care anymore, so long as he caught and killed Francis. "We're on the same team!"

Although Francis wasn't trying to shoot him. And Arthur was starting to feel this niggling sensation in the back of his mind. Why was Francis goading him like this and why was he dressed like that? He was standing beside a tree now, dressed in a royal blue shirt and a pair of ridiculously red jeans. He stuck out; an easy target if Arthur had ever seen one.

Francis had something planned; Arthur knew that… But the logical part of his mind was being drowned out by the demand for revenge. He'd fallen into too many holes, gotten too much shit dumped on him. He was going to strangle someone, and it might as well be Francis.

"Paintball," Francis responded. He darted ahead again; he seemed to know his way around these woods. He missed all the brambles and tree limbs that kept catching at Arthur. "Is not meant to be a team sport, cher. It is supposed to be 'every man for himself'. Besides," he laughed and ran ahead, calling over his shoulder, "I couldn't resist seeing your face when I pelted you with a paintball."

That's what had started this asinine chase. Mr. Roma had told everyone to go and spread themselves out in the forest and then wait until he'd sounded the horn to start shooting at each other. Francis had completely ignored those rules, followed Arthur to his chosen spot, and shot him as soon as they were separated from everybody else.

Cheating asshole.

So now Arthur was chasing him through the densest part of this goddamn forest, fueled almost entirely by rage.

And he suddenly, unconsciously slowed as he realized that he couldn't see that a splotch of that hideous red and blue combination. He growled in annoyance, burst forward with extra speed, hoping that the asshole had just ducked around a tree or something. But no… He ran forward to where he'd last seen the idiot and found himself almost entirely surrounded by trees and dense bushes. No sign of Francis…

Idiot. He wasn't sure _who _was the bigger idiot. Probably him, since it was _obvious _that Francis had planned this. Now he was lost in the middle of the woods.

"Shit. Fucking shit…" He spun in some random direction and started screaming. "Francis! You bloody, fucking frog! Get back here so I can kill you, you fucking bastard!"

"Artie?"

The voice came from behind him. A horrifyingly, terrifyingly familiar voice. And suddenly it hit him, and Arthur _knew _what Francis's plan had been. And fuck it, but he'd been successful.

Arthur didn't want to turn. Maybe if he didn't turn, she'd disappear. He felt his stomach twisting and his heart speeding up like a scared rabbit.

"I didn't think that would actually work. I'll have to thank Francis later."

Shit. Shit shit shit. He closed his eyes with a 'maybe if I can't see her, she can't see me' hope.

Except then he heard twigs snapping under sneakered feet and clothes rustling from extremely close by and then her scent… She must have washed her hair with that strawberry shampoo she sometimes used.

"What'cha doing, Artie?"

He slowly opened his eyes. And there she was, standing right in front of him. Ally, wearing a dark grey T-shirt and black sweat pants; clothes that were actually appropriate for the game they _should _have been playing. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, although a few curls had managed to escape. She was staring at him, her head tilted to the side like a curious puppy.

And the feeling of utter _longing _that burned through him was terrifying. And he _knew_—some part of him _knew_—that he'd gone too far. That he was at the point where he couldn't go back to how they'd been, best friends, completely platonic. He had no idea what he was supposed to do…

"I was just…" He had no idea where he was, so he couldn't escape either. Fuck Francis. "I got lost. What are _you _doing out here? This isn't on the course."

"Francis said he'd bring you out here so we can talk." She turned and walked over to where a tree had fallen against some stumps, leaving a sort of natural bench. Her voice was relaxed, but he could definitely hear the twinges of 'this is serious' behind the calm tone. She patted the bark beside her. "Come on. Sit."

He felt betrayed, although he really should have expected this. Why hadn't he realised what the frog was doing? He refused to get it through his dense skull. This _couldn't _work…

He had no choice, though. He sucked air between his clenched teeth and sat down beside her, careful so that they weren't actually touching each other.

She immediately scooted over, though, and leaned right into his face so their noses were almost touching. He jerked backwards and had to grab at a tree limb behind him to keep from toppling right off the log. "What are you doing?!"

"Francis told me that you like me." She continued peering at him...

Arthur was amazed when his heart didn't just _stop_ right then and there. He only managed to squeak out an undignified, "What?"

She didn't seem to notice the indignity of his response, though, as she continued without pause. And still unbearably calmly, so unlike her normal self. And why the fuck wasn't she freaking out about this? "Francis said that he thinks you like me. And so did Mattie. And she told me I'd better talk to you before someone tried to throttle one of us, but since you were ignoring me…" She settled a rather impressive glare on him that made him feel as small as a mosquito. "Since you were ignoring me, Francis and I came up with this plan so you'd have to talk to me!" And now she grinned, a normal 'And I'm a hero!' grin. It was a little bit of a relief.

Although not much of a relief, since he still was trying to mentally process the 'she knows!' panic. He'd tried so hard to act naturally around her; she was just his best friend. He could be best friends with her without letting stupid things like hormones get in the way.

Or, that's what he'd thought. But that nosy, meddlesome git had ruined everything.

He cleared his throat and sat up straighter; maybe he could still save this. "Francis is a bloody git and you shouldn't listen to him."

But then Ally sent him another _look_ and he knew that it was over. Their friendship was finished. And he felt his stomach sink down into the soil beneath them.

He wished she'd just _say _how upset she was so he could slink off and beg enough vodka off Ivan to put himself into a coma for a week. Al was just sitting there, expression not revealing much of anything.

Then she finally said, "So do you?"

Arthur's automatic reaction was to want to brazenly deny it, but then he looked up into her face and saw how expectant she looked. And he couldn't stand the thought of lying to her, even if it was about _this_.

So he sighed and turned his head to look anywhere but her face while he ruined their friendship. "…Yes."

There was a long moment of silence; he wanted to turn and see her reaction, but at the same time he couldn't actually bring himself to do it.

Then she responded, her voice brightened, "Well, that's good! I couldn't really tell; you're really hard to read sometimes, Artie." She stood up and Arthur found himself staring up at her, too shocked to speak.

What?

"You're…okay with it?"

She rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest. "It'd have been a lot cooler if _you _told me first, but of course I don't mind, Artie. I'll have to think of somewhere cool to go on our first date, though." She frowned, glancing up toward the tree limbs above them before she continued, "We could go to the drive-in for one of their horror nights."

"But…" Arthur felt like the world had just lurched beneath him and now he was desperately trying to catch his balance. "You—do you…?" He couldn't finish.

Ally glanced down at him, blinking a couple times before she seemed to realise what he was trying to say. "I don't really know yet. I mean, I've only been really _thinking _about it for a couple days. But that's what dating's for, right? Figuring out if you like the person in that romantic way or not."

Arthur felt like he'd been left a few steps behind. "Dating?" But they couldn't date; it was like he'd told Francis… He wasn't good enough for her. All of that stuff he'd done in the past. He hurriedly sat up straight and replied with a, "We can't."

She blinked, stared at him for a few seconds, blinked again. "Can't what?"

"We can't…date…" His stomach was doing the obnoxious twisty-turny thing that Francis would probably say was a sign of 'true love'. "I've…you don't really know about me."

Ally was staring at him like he was insane; the sunlight was coming through the trees and lit up her hair so it was practically glowing golden. Which was slightly distracting…

But he shook his head and forced himself to look away. "We're…I've done…regrettable things in the past. Things that you would say were…incredibly 'unheroic'." As unheroic as they could possibly be.

And suddenly Ally was leaning in close again, right into his face. He jumped, slid backwards on the log a little bit and had to flail to keep his balance. "Did you kill somebody?"

"What? No!"

She leaned back again, settling her hands on her hips. "Then what'd ya do?"

"I…" It was hard to even think back to those days without feeling the deep pangs of regret. "I…was a vandal. And I skipped school." He wasn't sure where to even go from there. "I drank a lot and did…all sorts of things."

"You're not still doing them, though." It wasn't even a question. Ally didn't look even close to as horrified as she should. She was just standing there, looking at him like this was all totally normal. Arthur couldn't understand why she wasn't acting more disgusting.

"I slept with Francis. Multiple times."

She shrugged. "That's really not surprising."

He felt completely off-put now. "_What_?"

Ally sat down beside him again and patted his leg in a friendly gesture. "Come on, Artie, I'm not _stupid_. It's obvious that you and Francis have some sort of background like that. And why would what you did in the past make any difference on whether I want to go on dates with you?" She paused in her patting for a moment, "Although I am glad you told me. It's good to get that off your chest right?"

"But…"

She grinned and then jumped up again, pointing to her chest. "I'm the hero, right? And a hero isn't going to hold what someone did in the past against them."

…She…He had no idea what to say. She was smiling at him, as if everything was totally okay. As if she didn't _care_. And he couldn't understand…

"But…" It couldn't be that easy.

"So we'll go on a date to the drive-in when we get home, okay? And then we can go from there?" She was holding out her hand, expectantly.

Arthur still felt off-balance, not really sure what was happening. But he finally nodded and took her hand. "I…suppose so."

* * *

A/N: In which Arthur gets all worked up about something that Ally's just like 'cool story, bro' about. Oh Artie, I love you.

So I'm writing an article now for a chance at winning $300. It's making me very nervous because I really want to win because _three hundred dollars_. Or even one of the lower prizes would be nice too. And it's like…barely started. Gah. Need to work on it but khaghasgiasn…

This story is so close to being done, omg… Craziness.


	62. Chapter 62: Mattea

**Just a Little Push**

**Part 62**

This game had devolved into chaos surprisingly quickly—although perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising at all, considering who she was playing with. Shouting, screaming, paintballs flying everywhere, people falling into hidden holes, buckets of mud toppling onto heads… Mattie was currently crouched behind a bush, watching as Ludwig and Feliciana stumbled into sight. About as stealthily as a rampaging herd of wildebeests.

"Ve~" They were both soaking wet too, probably victims of one of Vash's traps. "I don't think I like this game, Ludwig."

Ludwig had a look of utter resignation. He had a paintball gun resting against his shoulder; his other arm was being clung to by Feli.

They looked so miserable that Mattie didn't really want to shoot them. Gill would probably tell her that she was being a wimp. Then again, Mattie was pretty sure that Gill would solely want to shoot them because Ludwig was her brother and she enjoyed tormenting the poor guy.

She lifted the gun and pointed it toward the two figures, taking aim at Ludwig's back. Definitely would want to take him out first… Then maybe this game could finally end and she could get out of this trap-infested forest and take a nap or something.

"Mattea!"

Mattie probably jumped a literal foot in the air at the shout coming from _right _behind her. Causing a chain of events, as she accidentally pulled the trigger of her gun and shot a paintball straight into a tree limb above Feli's head… The girl screamed and jumped behind Ludwig, who had almost-instantly pointed his own gun toward Mattie's hiding place and looked about a moment away from pulling the trigger.

"Ma chéri! Wait until you hear. I have done the _impossible_."

"Mattie?" Ludwig lowered his gun and took a step closer; Feli immediately followed, peeking out from behind him as if worried they still might be attacked. Mattie sat up—there wasn't much point in hiding now that her spot had been given away. "Francis?"

Francis jumped up. And he was _beaming_, looking almost giddy. Which was a very odd expression to see on his face. He hurried over to Ludwig and Feli, grabbed Feli's hands and tugged her out from behind her protector, spinning her around. "Wait until you hear what big brother Francis has done. It was très magnifique, if I do say so myself."

Feli giggled. "Ve~ you're making me dizzy!"

Francis released her and turned toward Mattie, who wasn't entirely sure what to make of this situation. "Your sister and the idiotic Arthur have _finally _talked through their incredibly obvious feelings for each other. And they're going on a _date_." He gave everyone a look like he expected them to all bow down to him and his incredible matchmaking abilities.

Feli looked the closest to actually doing so. "That's exciting! Ludwig, isn't that exciting!"

Ludwig looked like he didn't particularly care. But he caved as soon as Feli turned her eyes on him. "Ja, it's…very exciting."

Mattie wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond. Her sister and Arthur were finally admitting that they were head-over-heels for each other. "Arthur actually talked to Ally about…the thing he didn't want her to know about?"

"Ve~?" Feli was now hanging off Ludwig's arm again. She looked between Mattie and Francis and then asked, "Do you mean Arthur being mean and bad during middle school?"

…Okay, so apparently she and Ally really were the only people who didn't know about that.

"Oui, he did. And Ally responded just how we knew she would."

"She didn't care, right?" Mattie knew her sister pretty well and she knew that Ally wasn't the type to hold anything like that over anybody, especially Arthur.

Francis nodded and opened his mouth, as if about to continue, when they were suddenly interrupted by a scream…

"Paintballs originated in Korea!"

And suddenly they were _pelted _by paintballs. Feli screamed and dove behind Ludwig again. Francis cursed furiously in French—Mattie actually recognised a few of the words—and Mattie just held her arms up in an attempt to protect herself.

"Yong Soo!"

"Da ze~!"

* * *

A/N: Okay, so super short chapter. (And it took forever to write, waaa ;( Lame face.) Just one more and we will be finished with this story! Isn't that exciting? :D

I have 10 more minutes of my birthday! I turned 22 today. So ollllld.

I also finished watching Matantei Loki Ragnarok, which is an adorable anime that made me very happy inside. So yay! Important birthday things done. I actually should be able to get a lot more writing done this next week because I'm house-sitting for my aunt and they don't have wi-fi. So many fewer distractions! Which seems to be my problem a lot of the time. Le sigh.


	63. Chapter 63: Leon

**Just a Little Push**

**Epilogue**

Tomorrow was the day.

Leon wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. He was currently standing in his kitchen, leaning against his dishwasher as he flipped through the mail that he'd just collected from his box. Bills, junk, nothing interesting. He'd just gotten out of the shower a few minutes ago and was not-very-efficiently rubbing a towel against his damp hair. These past two weeks had been quiet. Possibly the quietest they'd ever been since he'd moved here. None of the usual random visitors in his apartment at all hours of the day and night. No dealing with Gill-related chaos… Unless you counted his little trek down to their camp. Even his grandmother had been quieter than usual.

Tomorrow they'd have returned, though. If he remembered correctly, Gill had said they were coming back tonight, but hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with any of her mischief until the morning; he was too tired to handle anything more complex than sorting mail right now.

If he were entirely honest with himself, he'd have to admit that he was rather looking forward to their return. Gill and co. were exhausting, but things had been rather—dare he say it?—_boring _these last few weeks.

Although he knew that even _thinking _was just asking for these next few weeks to be filled with chaos and then paperwork about the chaos. And it had been nice to spend more time with co-workers. He'd gone out for drinks with Jenny, Shaunette, Emmanuel, and Quill on Friday and that had been very enjoyable and _normal._

Leon sighed and tossed the stack of letters on his dining table with the vague thought that he'd deal with them later. Now, he was going to go and settle in bed with a good book and mentally prepare himself for Gill's inevitable descent on his home. And he had to admit that he was a bit interested in hearing about what all had happened.

These plans were interrupted, however, by the sudden tapping at his door. Not pounding, which meant it wasn't Gill…

It took Leon a matter of seconds to identify the knock, which probably said something that he didn't particularly want to think about. He sighed, glanced longingly toward his bedroom, and crossed his apartment to open the door.

And was immediately greeted by a tray of something that was pressed almost into his chest.

"Bonjour, cher! I have brought you a peace offering!"

The fact that he could identify Francis by knock probably said something about the precarious state of his mind, but right now he was a bit distracted from those thoughts by the sweets that had been thrust at him. They looked like some sort of cupcake things. "Peace offering?"

"Oui." Francis was at least staying outside of his apartment and not strolling his way inside like he owned the place. "Strawberry cheesecake, since I know it is one of your favourites."

Leon blinked, glancing back down at the treats. Yep, those were definitely strawberries on top of the little cupcake-shaped things.

"A peace offering, and in return you will lift your silly little 'three feet' rule." He was trying to look as innocent as possible, while holding out his obvious bribe.

And it was a pretty impressive peace offering. Particularly when you took into account the fact that these last couple days free of the usual shenanigans had given Leon time to cool off…

Still, he wasn't about to let Francis get off the hook that easily. So he took his time to respond, leaning casually against the doorframe as if they had all the time in the world to just stand there. And then he waited, just long enough for Francis to shift his weight a couple times. "You do _know_ why I was rather pissed off at you, right?"

Mainly because Francis sometimes had terrible timing. He'd been out, on duty, with probably the most unpleasant, and apparently homophobic, officer in the entire division. And Francis just _had _to have noticed him and decided to come over, grope him in plain sight of the entire street, and kiss him.

Leon had been absolutely terrified that he'd been about to lose his job.

And thank God he _hadn't_—although the lecturing on appropriateness while on duty had been extremely unpleasant in and of itself—because if he had, then he'd probably have to kill Francis right now.

"Oui, and I apologise, cher." He was looking at him expectantly.

And sometimes Leon wanted to curse his own softness. He sighed, moved aside, and motioned Francis inside the apartment. "So what time did you get in? I thought you were getting back later tonight."

"A few hours ago." He strolled across the room and into the kitchen, immediately heading to the fridge and sliding the cheesecake inside. "Which means this technically isn't complete, cher, as it needs to sit overnight." He turned and leaned back against the door. "So you will have to be patient."

Leon closed the front door. "So my peace offering technically isn't even completed? That doesn't seem right." He headed toward the couch, sitting down and resting his feet on top of the coffee table. Which he probably should clear off sometime soon. There were a few empty coffee mugs resting here and there. "Did your plan work, then?"

Leon was pretty sure it had. He craned his neck over the back of the couch and watched as a smirk stretched over Francis's, although he tried to hide it as he busied himself with the coffee machine. Even though it was way too late for coffee… Although knowing Francis, he probably wanted to tell Leon about _everything _that had happened, so coffee might be a necessity.

"Oui!" He immediately left the kitchen and draped himself over the back of the couch, sending Leon his most smug grin. "Allison and our cher Arthur have finally admitted to their amour!"

"And how did you manage that?" He was pretty sure that he was going to get the other side of the story at some point tomorrow. Hopefully Arthur wouldn't show up too early in the morning. And hopefully he wouldn't be having a panic attack… Maybe he should go the store for a quick tea run when he woke up tomorrow…

"I just tricked him into getting lost with her in the woods." He suddenly rolled over and crushed the arm Leon had draped over the back of the couch under his weight. Ignored his noise of protest and continued. "It was a bit unfortunate that I forgot to tell Allison how to get back to the group… I would've thought that Arthur would take advantage of their time alone together, but he is an idiot."

Somehow Leon rather doubted that Francis had just _forgotten _to tell them. He frowned as he attempted to free his arm. He was pretty sure Francis was actively pushing back to pin it. "Mhm, so who won Gill's contest thing then? And get off my arm."

He ignored the order, of course, and tilted his head back with a slight frown. "Nobody knows for sure. Gillian and Allison are both absolutely _positive _that their teams won. It only complicated matters when cher Arthur and Allison disappeared halfway through the paintball game and Monsieur Roma had to go find them. And you should have _heard _Gill and Allison arguing over it on the bus." He shrugged slightly, which gave Leon the split second needed to extricate his arm. "Unfortunately, I think it's still ongoing."

Great… Leon could imagine the headache that an ongoing Ally versus Gill competition would cause. And he'd probably get drawn into the middle of it because that's what Gill liked to do.

"I'm surprised she's not here right now…" No matter how late it was; he didn't particularly want to look at the clock.

"I think she was overly-stimulated by the whole camping experience. She fell fast asleep on the bus ride back after she finally stopped fighting with Allison. Right on Mattie's shoulder, which was very cute and absolutely enraged Allison. Arthur had to distract her."

"Anything else exciting happen, then? Nobody drowned in the lake or started a forest fire?"

And he was a little surprised when he saw Francis's expression flicker for a moment. It was hard to actually _identify_ the foreign twitch, but he definitely hadn't looked happy. He was very quick at returning to his usual smirky-smile and straightened up.

"I think the coffee's almost finished, cher. If we're going to talk about _everything _that happened, then we'll need some caffeine in our systems, oui?"

"Uh…" He'd pulled himself upright and was now watching as Francis hurriedly pulled down a pair of mugs and opened the fridge door to retrieve the milk. "I…guess… Did something bad happen?"

Francis flashed him a smile that was just a fraction too wide. "Of course not, cher! Something very _good _happened. A true expression of l'amour! Our cher Antoine asked his sweet Lovina to marry him!"

And that was definitely not what Leon had expected… And didn't really explain why Francis was now moving too-quickly and Leon watched as he actually spilled coffee onto the counter, some of it splashing onto his arm.

He was on his feet and in the kitchen in a few seconds, taking the coffee pot out of Francis's hands and forcibly pushing him toward the couch. "Sit before you hurt yourself. Tell me about everything that happened."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was up, which meant he was probably going to need this coffee… And much more of it in the next few days.

* * *

A/N: AND DONE.

OH MY GOD. I AM DONE WITH THIS MONSTER. I AM DONE.

*screaming and hyperventilating*

I am so excited right now. I need to have like a super party.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! I know this has taken so long and my writing has been so sporadic, but a lot of you have stayed with me through the whole thing, or came along at different points and stuck with me and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I would not have been able to finish this without you!

*kisses and hugs* And what is next in the writing life of moi? Well, there's definitely a sequel in the works. It'll probably be a bit of time before that starts up, because breaks are good for sanity. But there will definitely be another story coming soon. So prepare yourselves! :D


End file.
